Why wait?
by Yeah-um-no
Summary: Sequel to Why not? Loki returns to earth to help the Avengers against their newest enemy. In exchange he is being granted a pardon from Odin. Will he be able to put up with the Avengers long enough to obtain the all-important pardon? Will he be able to find Emily again? Rated T for now, may change later. I don't own any marvel characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

Arrrflarg I'm soo excited I'm hardly making sense. You guys are the best! Can't believe so many read my first story.  
Just to make it clear from the beginning, I don't like to answer reviews in the story unless they have important or intellectual questions that can benefit other readers (I feel like I'm cheating people by saying the story is X-words long but half of that is spent answering reviews). But I would also like to say that I do answer to your reviews in PMs.  
Anyways, here is the sequel. Hope it lives up to expectations.

Emily screamed and squirmed in her captor's arms, her beautiful sky blue dress now a tattered mess as she struggled to keep on her own two feet. The two men holding her let their grips tighten around her arms, blatantly ignoring her cries of anguish. The tall dark man stood with his back to her, his smug grin apparent from the way he held himself.

"Did you honestly think you could fool me?" He laughed.  
"Well, you made it quite easy actually." Said the other man, now roped to the chair "how could you have thought we wouldn't find out about this by now?"  
"The plans were top secret, if it wasn't for that leak we would have been able to go through with the plans. It makes no matter anyway, we will do a bit of rescheduling, a couple more meetings with some old friends of mine and it'll all be back on track." He said casually.  
"God damnit man, you're making this sound like a Weekend shop instead of a fucking terrorist weapons exchange!"  
"Please, please just let me go!" Emily cried in exasperation.  
"Ahh, yes now that pretty little thing back there. I almost forgot about you I can't let you go now, your my leverage."  
"Sonofabitch, you leave her alone, she has nothing to do with this," the man struggled against his bonds.  
"No, no please. Why? Why are you doing this?"  
"Because, my dear money, power all in my reach plus a chance to show up those pompous Americans." He said nodding towards the man tied up.  
"How can you do this without others finding out? How have you kept it hidden for so long?" She asked in a confused, tears streaming down her face.  
"You have too much faith in American security systems, my dear. Hacking is easier and easier these days, you can practically buy hackers by the hour that'll do whatever you want, no questions asked. It's laughable actually, the amount of security that gets bypassed in a few minutes,"  
"Buying hackers online? That's ridiculous, we would know about that, your bluffing!" Came the shouts of the man tied to the chair.  
"Ah but you see the hackers have managed to conceal themselves from your systems tanks to this little thing," he held up a chip. "This beauty can detect any security system currently available, it finds it, bypasses it and continues on its merry little way without a second thought."

Emily suddenly stood up straighter no longer a terrified hostage, begging for mercy, she was now in soldier mode. Giving a sharp tug on her left arm and sweeping her leg around she knocked one henchman off his feet while simultaneously elbowing the other in the face, breaking his nose in the process. Both of the other men present simply stood in shock at her actions, both beings nag unaware of her skills.

"Who the hell are you?" Asked the man tied to the chair.  
"Special Agent Veritas, at your service" she replied with a little bow. Her kidnapper took this opportunity to whip out his gun, unfortunately for him Emily had anticipated his actions and had gone from bow to forward roll. Jumping up she grabbed his arm and twisted it round his back so that he dropped his gun. Kicking the backs of his knees he fell to the floor. Knocking the back of his head with the revolver she had picked up from the floor she let him fall face-flat on the cold marble floor. Sliding the knife out from around her legs Emily approached the tied up man who was now eyeing her apprehensively. She turned to his back and sliced trough the ropes that were holding him bound.

"Thank you," he said warily, not letting his eyes stray from her. "Who are you?"  
"I've already answered that question." She replied curtly.  
"Who do you work for? How can I trust you?" He asked.  
"You can't," Emily gave a sly smile and flipped backwards at the fist throw in her face.  
"Tut tut, that's no way to treat you saviour. Just for that I'm going to take this," Emily smiled picking up the hacker's concealing chip.  
"Hey, no I need that!" He said as he started to run towards her, Emily simply smiled and, with a series of impressive flips and cartwheels she left. Leaving two very confused and astonished men behind.

Running barefoot out of the building she joined the black SUV waiting for her a few blocks away. Getting into the car she slammed the door and gave the order to drive on.

Another mission done, another day gone passed, she was still no closer to finding had been sent back to Asgard, not likely to ever return. She had been assigned to working in SHIELD's offices during the first few months but she had soon been pulled out into the field. She had quickly developed her skills and had adapted well to her job. She had become one of SHIELD's top agents. It had only taken three years plus the year and a half of training to get to where she was now. Yet it was far from her original goals.

She sat in silence on the long drive to SHILED's headquarters, staring out of the window into the night sky. During her time at SHIELD she had not made many good friends, not because she was disliked but because she. Preferred solitude. She simply maintained a few friendships with the people who she often went on missions with. She had even been assigned on two or three missions with the Avenger Hawkeye he had been kind to her and had even complemented her on her acrobatics. On another occasion SHIELD had sent her to act as bodyguard for Tony Stark, she had hated that mission and had decided to make sure that she was not assigned to it again by scaring the shit out of him. Ironman had nearly shat his pants and had requested that she never be assigned to him again.

Emily liked to keep herself occupied with missions and paperwork, she disliked being idle. Only because she didn't want to feel useless, she had felt useless back at the hotel when Loki had used the last of his strength to make sure that she would go undiscovered by the company she now worked for. It seemed a little futile in the long run and Emily had never felt so useless as when she watched the Avengers cuff and muzzle Loki from the office building across the street from where he was.

Upon entering SHIELD H.Q Emily noticed the tension in the air, a few agents had looks of panic in their eyes. Something was up, and it must have been big because Emily had hardly had the chance to take in her surroundings before Coulson appeared at her side.

"Fury wants to see you in his office. Now." he added when Emily had made way for her living area. Sighing she followed behind the second in command. Silently dreading what he was going to say, mentally she went through everything she had done in the past week that could get her into trouble. She felt like a guilty child being sent to the headmasters office.

Coulson pushed the doors open and lead the way into the large office. He motioned to a chair and Emily sat down, not speaking a word for fear that her brain would fail her and that she would simply babble. The Director stood behind his desk, barely looking up when she entered. Emily's heart was thudding in her chest and she could feel the blood coursing through her veins. Finally the director threw down the file he had been studying, a quick glance told Emily it was her own, and he stared her down. He was rather intimidating for a man who had an eyepatch, his voice came out clear and commanding making Emily almost shake.

"Agent Veritas, I have a proposition for you."

**Ohhhhhhhh, it's gonna be a good one, I can sense it! Hope you liked the first chappy, I'll be sure to write faster and get the next one up as soon as possible.  
Sorry about the weird spy stuff- I found it difficult to write that sort of stuff but that will give way to Avenger-ing awesomeness.  
Don't forget to R&R  
Until next time ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**wooooh! Recovered breaker first chapter and already two reviews! Anyway both reviews asked for another yup date so here it is. I've been feeling a little ill today so sorry if my sick brain has made any mistakes. **

Thor had been worried about his brother, Loki always been sly and witty, he enjoyed playing tricks on people and causing chaos, he always had a scheme or two to spare when he was bored. Loki had also enjoyed conversing with intellectuals such as the Elves but he had not once approached the guests during their long visit. Loki had always been secretive of his personal affairs but he was not one to keep quiet for long, he had after all been nicknamed 'Silvertongue' Loki relished in a good oral spar.

Ever since his most recent return from Midgard Loki had been quiet and reserved. He spent days in the royal library and avoided contact with others as much as possible. The only time Loki was seen interacting with someone was to shout at them or to cause some sort of chaos (which he was famed for), Loki seemed overly anti-social. Thor simply could not understand his bother's behaviour.

Thor had recently received word from Midgard of suspicious activities that had energy signals that mirrored those of the Tesseract's portal made by the Chitari in New York. The Midgardians had asked Thor to return in case of another war and he had also been requested to bring as much information on the Tesseract, Chitari and portals as he could. Thor was hopeless with science and magic, he didn't understand any of that. Loki did.

Thor was considering bringing Loki with him to Midgard. It was risky and the Midagrdians would not be pleased with his presence, but it would be a chance for Loki to redeem himself. It would be a chance to show them that Loki had changed and a chance to show he did have good in him. Then again Thor wasn't sure Loki had changed, he behaved differently, but given the chance would he help the Avengers? Would he return to the Chitari?

It was a week until Thor was to leave for Midgard and he had to make his decision tonight whether or not Loki would join him. Frigga was unsure, like Thor and Odin had said he approved of this plan so long as Loki did something to prove that he would not try and take over the foreign realm.

That night there was to be a banquet with some of the Elven guests that had been residing in the palace for he past season. There, Thor would talk to his brother about the upcoming visit to Midgard. He sincerely hoped his brother would accept, but there was still doubt in his mind as to if Loki would be more trouble than he was worth.

Opening the large wooden doors to the grand library Thor approached his brother who was bent over one of his spell books studying.

"Brother! How good it is to see you! You've been hiding away from us, spending all you time with books, it not healthy you know." Thor boomed.  
"Thor I highly doubt that reading is as unhealthy as spending my days having people try and pulverise me in the training arena. And stop calling me your brother, you know very well that we are not related." Thor grunted in disapproval "what are you doing in the library anyway? You can hardly clam that you chose to be here, seeing as you can't read."  
"Brother, that is nonsense! Of corse I can read! I am here to ask you to join us tonight at the banquet, you are going to be there aren't you?" He inquired.  
"Yes, it is required of me to be there, my silver tongue seems to have fallen on def ears." He said his voice disdainful.  
"I shall see you there then," Thor said turning to leave.

Loki watched as his brother left, Thor had been watching him closely for the past few days, it had gotten on Loki's nerves but he had not mentioned it to his oaf of an adoptive brother. Loki as fairly sure Thor was in need of Loki's help and he was going to try and put it off for as long as he could, he didn't want to have to do anything for the man responsible for him being brought back to Asgard. He was perfectly happy on earth with Emily, he wasn't sure of the different speeds of time between the realms but it had been just over thirty years on Asgard. He had missed Emily as much as he hated to admit it, he had fallen in love with the mortal woman. He was as weak as Thor had been, it wounded his pride in someways but he would never let anyone know of his love for the mortal girl, he had many enemies and would not want her to be caught up in a revenge scheme because of him. There would also be the constant teasing from Thor and his friends, as well as others, over his weakness for a woman.

The banquet was to start soon, Loki reluctantly left his studies to prepare for an evening if being social and acting as if he gave a damn about the people in the room. Preparing a hot bath Loki stripped down and thought about Thor's sudden interest in him. Perhaps he could use this favour to his advantage, he could maybe convince Thor to let him return to Midgard to see Emily again. Then again, Thor loved his previous Midgard and would not likely let Loki anywhere near it again, if he did Thor would be constantly at his side which would not go well with his plans.

Loki stepped into the hot water, relaxing as his muscles loosened plumes of steam rising from the surface of the water stroking his face as they rose ever higher. He shoved the thoughts of Thor and tricking his way to Midgard out of his mind. He instead concentrated on his memories of his time with Emily.

He remembered his arrival on Midgard, crashing into the forest-y area behind her house, he remembered her taking him to her home and taking care of him, stitching him up and making sure he healed well. He remembered how he had wowed her with his magic and had cooked her dinner (well technically he stole the meal from different restaurants nearby but she didn't know that), Loki remembered how he had changed the colour of her dress and how she had treated him like he had just given her a diamond necklace.

Loki remembered how they had spent a night telling each other their life stories, well Loki had told her the highlights of his, and how he had taken her to that obnoxious 'theme park' called Disney world, though Emily did love it. He remembered when he had bought her a necklace for Christmas and he remembered when he had first told her he loved her. It had been after she had seen his Frost Giant for the first time, she had reacted oppositely to how he had expected and she had said on numerous occasions that she thought he looked sexy in blue.

The water temperature suddenly dropped and and Loki opened his eyes to see his blue skin. He saw the gleaming red eyes staring back in his reflection, he wondered how anyone could think him anything other than horrific in this form, but Emily had thought he was beautiful.

Getting out from the bath Loki dried himself off with a wave of his hand and he walked over to his large walk-in wardrobe to take out his celebration armour that was expected at these kinds of events.

Loki usually enjoyed when Elves visited, their knowledge of magic ad nature was awe-inspiring. This time however Loki had kept to himself preferring not to mingle with the foreign guests. It was pathetic in a sense, he had been depressed since his return, though he reasoned that he was just staying out of trouble in the hopes that he would be allowed a little more freedom because of his 'good behaviour'.

Entering the great hall Loki was overwhelmed with the people and the noise of the room. Everyone was laughing and smiling, dancing and singing, the general merriment of the hall was sickening. Loki paid his respects to the guests and to his so called family before heading straight for the wine tables. Loki had a certain weakness for Elven wine, it as sweet and had a faint aftertaste of spices that was particularly pleasing to him. Thor, on the other hand, preferred to drink bucketfuls of mead.

Loki had hoped to escape to the dark corners of the hall and hide from the bustles of people frolicking about, unfortunately for him he was spotted by Freyja, goddess of love, fertility and beauty.

"Ah, Loki. I have not seen you recently, have you been hiding?"She teased.  
"Obviously not well enough, seeing as you have found me," Loki smiled back dryly, being as polite as he possibly could seeing his current mood. "What brings you to the palace?" He asked not really caring about the answer.  
"I'm good friends with the elves, you see. I came to see them off, but also to confirm a suspicion I had." That piqued Loki's interest.  
"And what would that be?" He inquired.  
"That you were on love," she replied with a teasing smile, taking Loki by surprises.  
"I..I-uh...what?"  
"Now, now, you didn't think that it would go unnoticed by one such as me, did you? I was unsure and I couldn't very well just barge in unannounced and ask you could I? You'd shut up like a clam! He or she must be quite the charmer to melt your cold little heart," Freyja laughed.  
"How did you know?" He asked, though it was a stupid question, given her title. Freyja simply huffed and looked at him expectantly.  
"Who is it then? When came I meet this mysterious miracle?" She asked acting like a child who had been given exactly what she wanted for Christmas.  
"Never, I'm not going to let anyone find out about her, she's been through enough as it is." Loki said harshly.  
"Ahh, so she's damaged material too, is she?" Loki clenched his fist around the wine glass so hard that it snapped.  
"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" He hissed viciously.  
"So, you truly do care about her? Be careful." Freyja said, softly before disappearing into the crowd again.

Loki was confused but he was not left alone for very long, Thor spotted him for across the tables and strode over. Even though Loki was intrigued to find out what it was that Thor wanted of him, he was loath to have to try and make conversation with the fool. There where many people present with more than three times Thor's intellect who would make better conversational partners than the God of Thunder.

"Aha, brother I was just wanting to talk to you, you see there is something I must ask of you though I am not sure of how to put it, nor weather it is the best idea..." He trailed off.  
"Well Thor, knowing you it is the worst idea conceivable and I shall most likely have to wait an eternity for you to be able to find the right words in that scattered mush you call a brain." Loki replied curtly.  
"I see you are in a foul mood, perhaps I should return later," he glanced at the Allfather who gave a slight shake of his head, saying that taking Loki to Midgard would not be a good idea.

Just at that moment two little Elven girls who had been playing by the dessert tables had started a chase, one of the unfortunate children had had the bad luck of having run into the Dark Prince's leg, almost knocking him over. Loki spun around furious and the hall quietened at seeing the little girl on he floor, about to burst into tears, and the seething price towering above her.

Loki had been prepared to scream at the idiot who had nearly run him over, but upon seeing the innocent little girl slumped on the floor his heart gave a jolt and he was reminded of Emily's memory of having lost her mother. Loki's face relaxed and he scooped the trembling girl up in his arms. The rest of the hall was watching intently fearing the worst, yet none dared to intervene.

"Are you hurt?" Loki asked the girl softly.

The hall looked on confused, was he being gentle with her? Was it an act which he would then drop to suddenly start screaming at the girl? The girl in question couldn't find the courage to speak so she shook her head, letting a single tear fall down her cheek.  
Loki smiled kindly.

"We'll if you are uninjured then there is no reason to cry, now is there?" He said wiping the tear off her face and, with a few choice words he turned it into a bright blue butterfly. The girl gasped, as did the hall. The butterfly flapped its wings and landed on the girls nose making her face break into a huge smile. The girl giggled in delight as Loki set her down and she chased the butterfly out into the gardens.

Thor watched as the girl ran out of the hall skipping and laughing, he took one look at Odin, who was now smiling broader than he had seen him smile in a long while, who gave a reassuring nod. Taking hold of Loki's arm Thor lead him out of range of the eyes and ears of the guests.

"On second thought Loki, it was a brilliant idea, father agrees. You are to come with me to Midgard!" Thor beamed and Loki's heart began to race.

**Oooooo cliffhanger. That was quiet a long chapter, hope you enjoyed it! soo Loki is coming back to earth can't wait to write him and the Avengers working together, that is going to be a challenge. Anyways, love to hear from you guys so please review.**

**until next time ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Loki just stood staring at his brother in complete incredulity. Had he heard that correctly? Was Thor giving him exactly what he had wanted? This couldn't be possible, it was too good to be true. Loki's mind raced with anticipation, he was going to be able to see Emily again!

"The humans are worried about some sort of power surge that mirrors the portal you created in the city of New York. They want us to help, father is willing to let you go and if all goes well he is willing to offer you an official pardon!" Thor enthused.  
"What dose this entail for me?" Loki asked cautiously.  
"SHIELD will not be...overjoyed by your presence," he chose his words carefully "they would most likely keep you under surveillance, you would have to behave and try not to take over their realm again, hey" Thor said elbowing him with a grin.

Loki gave Thor a dead stare, he thought it over and concluded that should he help the humans they would be, more inclined shall we say, to let him see her again. Though he wouldn't tell them that he was in love with a mortal woman. He would be able to make something up to be able to see her again.

"Fine, I shall help your petty mortals, but I shall expect something in return." Loki said with a sly grin. He was feeling his old mischievous self again.  
"Brother, I do not like that look. What are you planning?" Thor asked cautiously.  
"You needn't worry, I won't harm a fly, as the mortals say. " Loki said turning back into the hall, happier than he had been over the past thirty years.

Thor was happy that his brother was so ready to help the mortals, though he was worried of his true intentions, his brother was a sly person who rarely did something out of the kindness of his heart, many speculated as to if he had a heart. Thor knew better, Loki had a heart, he kept his feelings hidden ever since childhood, the only time he had let his emotions run rampant was after he found out about his true heritage. That had hurt him greatly though Thor tried continuously to make Loki understand that he and Frigga truly did love him as their family, because to them, he was family.

_One week later_

Thor lead the way to the Bifrost, the wind blowing his hair and he took a look behind him to see his brother following closely behind. It had almost seemed that Loki was excited about returning to Midgard to help those who had ruined his previous plans to rule the realm. Thor brushed his worries aside as he continued towards his parents who were waiting to see them off, Odin was most likely there to make sure that Loki was not about to let loose all hell on earth.

With a small nod to Heimdall the gatekeeper, his golden armour shone in the sunlight, Thor wondered how he could stand the constantly changing weather. Thor's mind tended to wonder when he was nervous, it wasn't one of his best quantities. He was nervous of what his brother would do to the avengers, he was worried of what would happen to him should he cause trouble, he was worried about what would happen if they couldn't stop whatever it as that was causing these unsettling energy bursts.

Walking towards the Bifrost Loki started to worry. What if Emily had not waited for him and she was now married to some mortal man with three children? What if she hated him for having abandoned her? What if Freyja was not the only one to have realised what had happened to him on Midgard and she had been found out? What if she had been attacked by one of his enemies? Loki pushed these worrying thoughts away as he strode forward, trying to look confidant.

The large golden observatory felt heavy with tension as the two princes advanced towards the portal, Heimdall stepped forward, his lager sword in hand, the gods looked nor ward as the portal swirled open before them.

Loki felt a pull as his body was sucked up into the whirring portal that would take him back to Midgard. It had been a while since he had last used the portal but he had long gotten over the sickness that most experience during their first few trips between realms. He felt the building pressure as they neared their destination, it was weighing down on him like the weight of all his sorrow and self-loathing which would soon be alleviated with his landing on earth and his return to Emily.

His feet hit the ground with a loud thud and Loki was momentarily put off balance, he regained his usual posture and stood tall as his eyes swept his surroundings. He was caught off guard by a certain voice that he had thought he would never hear again.

"Loki," the voice came from his left. He turned around swiftly to confirm his suspicions a look of confusion was clearly written on his face.

**Can you guess who it is? Go on, take a guess I bet no one will get it right.  
Anyway, enough with the teasing, as I have said before I love you all for reading my story and I hope you get as much joy out of reading it as I do writing it!  
Please review.  
Until next time ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

**omg you guys are the best! Literally, I couldn't ask for better. and now as repayment for your kind words and wonderful reviews, another chapter. Hope you enjoy...**

"What would you like me to do, sir?" Emily asked, thankful she wasn't being punished.  
"Over the past month we have been detecting unnatural energy surges, much like those created by the portal of the alien army from New York. Here are the case files we have complied of these events. We also have the files of all the Avengers and the Tesseract for you to study." Fury said avoiding her question.  
"This is all very interesting, sir, but I don't understand why you are giving me all this." Emily said getting nervous.  
"I'm giving you this because I need you, you know about the attacks on New York, right?"  
"I was skied to do some filing on them in my first days. I know the general gist of things."  
"Then you are aware that they were caused by the Norse God Loki?" Emily gave a small nod,not trusting her voice after hearing his name. "Well unfortunately for us, we now need his help. He will be arriving on earth next week and I trust that son of a bitch as far as I can throw him. We need someone to be his...bodyguard. I've chosen you for this job because- well because my top agents refuse to work with him and because your the next best thing." He said bluntly.  
"Gee I'm flattered. I'll accept the job, but why wouldn't the others work with him?"  
"He's known as Slivertongue, his words are like poison. Plus my two top agents were compromised because of him, others wish to avoid that fate. Besides, you have had a commendation from Hawkeye and you managed to shut Tony Stark up, if anyone can keep that bastard in line, it's you."  
"Thank you, sir." Emily said picking up the files and turning to leave. "I won't disappoint you."

The door closed behind her and Emily hugged the files to her chest as she ran full speed to her room. She bumped into a few people on the way but she didn't stop to apologise or even look back to see if they were ok. Her heart was thumping madly as if it would burst out of her chest. She was being given everything she had hoped for, on a sliver platter. Granted, he would most likely be muzzled and handcuffed and she would not be able to have the romantic reunion from theses cheesy rom-coms but she could work with that.

Having him here would be good enough for now.

Slamming the door of her room behind her Emily threw the files down and grabbed a pillow off of her bed. First she hugged it to her chest as she jumped up and down the she half suffocated herself while trying to muffle her screams of joy that she could hardly contain.

"Agent Veritas, what the hell is going on in here? It's sounds like you are being attacked!" It was Coulson at her door, he was looking at her strangely, mind you she had been acting like a complete idiot seconds before. Readjusting herself Emily adopted a more serious look.  
"I beg your pardon, sir. I'm simply excited, I know that this is going to be a tough job and I'm honoured that you've chosen me to do it. Plus who wouldn't be excited, I'm mean I'm going to be working with the Avengers! I'm going to meet Captain America, in person!" Emily tried to go for Coulson's favourite Avenger, hopping he would swallow the story if he thought she was just another fan. It seemed to work, he smiled and turned to leave.

"Just be careful, and maybe chose a less disheveled look when you meet them." He said closing the door behind him.  
Emily took one look down and realised her state, she looked worn and now she thought about it she felt extremely tired. Slipping off the dress and slipping into some pyjamas Emily slumped on her bed, she could shower in the morning. Right now she had some time to relax and dream of her God who would soon be returning to her.

Waking up the next morning, Emily groaned as she stretched her tired and aching muscles. Even after a good nights sleep, with all the work she did every day, she couldn't help but feel worn out. Getting out of bed she trudged towards the showers and grabbed a clean towel before stripping down. The hot water helped her aching muscles and woke her up as the water splashed on her face. She massaged the shampoo into her scalp and let her mind wonder to thoughts of Loki.

_One week later_

He would be here in a few hours. She would see him again, it had been so long since they last saw each other. Maybe a little too long? What if Loki had moved on? What if he had some beautiful Asgardian princess waiting for him back at the palace? What if being captured by the Avengers was just a ploy to get away from her? No, no Emily couldn't afford to think like that. He would be here soon and she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her, least she screw up and be dismissed from her duty.

Emily sat in the conference room, waiting for the Avengers to arrive. She would be formally introduced to them before meeting Loki. She was feeling very nervous and she couldn't help but feel she was going to screw this up. The doors opened behind her and she stood up abruptly. First to enter the room was Agent Natasha Romanoff, followed by Agent Barton, Steve Rogers, Dr. Banner,Tony Stark and last but not least Thor.

Emily's heart raced as she thought of the infinite possibilities that could go wrong in this meeting, Stark might still bare a grudge on her, Agent Romanoff might deem her too weak for the task, Thor might recognise her and tell them of her past with Loki. Thankfully that last worry she could brush away fairly easily. She had her SHIELD uniform on and, as most agents who had already worked with her knew, she liked to hide her face behind a black laced mask.

"You again? Man I can't help but feel sorry for the bastard." Stark said seeing who it was waiting for them.  
"She's a good agent, I've no doubt she can keep him under control." Said Barton, Emily couldn't help but feel a swell of pride knowing hat at least two Avengers had faith in her.  
"Ma'am," Steve nodded, shaking her hand. Dr Banner gave her a slight smile but stayed well away from the rest of the group, he was just as nervous as she was. Last time Loki had been on earth Banner had lost his temper and unleashed the Hulk by accident. No wonder he didn't want to get to involved in anything for fear of 'the other guy' resurfacing.

Agent Romanoff, though not steering clear of everyone else like Banner, simply gave a nod and started to look Emily up and down, analysing her.  
"So, you are the one who has been chosen to guard my brother?" Thor asked, Emily nodded. "I must warn you, he has a way with words, do not let his Silvertongue get the best of you."  
Emily gave a small smile. "I will take your caution to heart though I doubt I can be swayed by his words."  
"You have chosen wisely, I think." Thor said to Fury who was standing in the doorway. "A strong woman like you could easily get the better of Loki." He said taking Emily's hand and kissing her knuckles.  
"Alright lover boy, let the woman go. She needs to be on alert when with Loki, not daydream about your fantastic hair." Tony said in a mocking voice.  
"Not meaning any disrespect, Thor, but it takes more than that to distract me from my duty." Emily replied curtly.  
Thor laughed a little. "I should expect nothing less, malady. Take care of yourself around Loki, as I'm sure you have been warned before, he is a trickster and a liar. He may try to harm you," Emily could see the pain on his face as Thor listed his brothers faults. "But he is here for redemption so I sincerely hope he behaves like a gentleman."  
"If he steps out of line I won't hesitate to show him his place." Emily confirmed. She spent the next hour or so getting to know the Avengers better, they talked like old friends would and Emily found it easy to relax in their company.

"Agent? If you are done here I think it would be best to get you...acquainted with the prisoner now." Fury said entering the conference room again just as Thor began to express his hunger. Emily nodded and said a quick goodbye to the rest of the team as she followed Fury down to the detention cell that Loki was staying in.

The cell was s smallish rectangular room, with a cot against the far wall and a table and two chairs in the middle of the room to the left. On the wall at the head of the cot was a small window with iron bars on the outside. The wall opposite that wall was a huge pane of two inch thick glass with a high-security door that needed code and fingerprint accession open. They really had pulled out the stops on this one.

Loki sat at the table staring at the glass wall in boredom. Emily walked into the room looking onto his cell with a tray of food for him, her heart pounding in her ears. Loki made no sing of recognition that it was her, nor did he even seem to acknowledge she was there in the first place.

She walked up to the door and keyed in he code, then let it scan her finger before the door slid open and she stepped in. He looked up at her, again he made no sign of having recognised her.

He gave a sly grin. "Am I to have a maid during my stay? How thoughtful of the Director."  
Emily clucked his tray down on the table, insulted at being called a maid.

"I'm not your maid." She said cooly. "I'm here to keep the little prince under control, SHIELD thinks you childish and so I am here to babysit."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

**well, it's mid-afternoon here in Paris and I'm bored, so here present for my lovely readers.**

Loki was surprised, to say the least, at seeing Agent Coulson staring back at him, a triumphant look upon his face. He stood with a slight hunch, barely noticeable to any other than a God, which showed that his injury had not left him completely whole after he had healed.

"Well well well, I must admit I did not expect you to be here." Came Loki's silky voice.  
"You can't get rid of me that easily," quipped the Agent. "I told you you wouldn't win. Seems like I was right." He smiled at Loki, obviously proud that his band of misfits had won over the god and he was happy to rub it in.  
"Ah but is it not you who are now begging for my help? You need me, but I don't need you." Loki said menacingly.  
"Alright Reindeer Games, you've had your fun. And from what I've heard you do need us to get a pardon, so calm your little ass down." Stark cut in, wanting to avoid having Coulson a crumpled bloody mess on the floor again.

Loki was lead to the doors by a large squad of guards, he was amused that the mortals thought he needed such a large group of men to detain him, he could have finished them all off in under a minute. He was also glad that they still thought him a threat, he liked the fear they had of him. It made him feel he still had some power.

He was lead into a large room where he found his cell occupied half of the said room, sealed off by a large glass window so that they could constantly have an eye on him.  
His cell was small but not unfinished like the last one on the Hellcarrier.

The guards led him into the cell and Loki sat down at the table that was there for him. He sat with a vacant expression, thinking about his next move, how he could get exactly what he wanted from the Director. Just as he began to think of a plan, who should appear but the Director himself?

"How's real power feelin'? Comfortable?"  
"If I wear you, _Director_, I wouldn't insult the person who help you need the most. It seems an unlikely way to gain my favour."  
"Yeah, about that, you can play the 'changed man' card on Thor. But it ain't gonna work on the rest of us, why are you really here?" Fury hinted.  
"Ah finally, someone with intellect, and you don't _'beat around the bush_' as mortals say," Loki said in a mocking tone.  
"Cut the crap, Loki. What do you want with earth? Why did you agree to help?"  
"As much as it pains me to say this, I do want an official pardon from Asgard, though I'll keep my reasons to myself...there is one thing I ask in exchange for my cooperation." Loki paused to let his words sink in. "All I ask, in exchange for my tremendous knowledge," he bragged, "is one week."  
"One week of what, exactly? That could mean just about anything."  
"I ask for one week on Midgard, free from the prying eyes of your SHIELD agents, if you are willing to grant me this, I will be more than happy to help you with whatever's it is that rattles your tiny minds." Loki smiled.  
"Ha, there is no way in hell we are letting you loose on the world, last time that happened you nearly destroyed New York." Fury almost laughed at the idea.  
"Those are my terms Director, and you won't get anything from me until I get my week."  
"I'll talk with the Avengers, but you can be damn sure we aren't gonna let you leave without at least a dozen of my men." He laughed leaving the room.  
Loki sat in silence, trying to think of a way to get his week free from SHIELD, he needed to find Emily and make sure she was ok. Make sure she was safe from his enemies, and make sure she hadn't gone off with someone else and forgotten about him.

He sat there for a long time gathering his thoughts, he took no heed of he time as it passed. It was only when a rather curvaceous agent with a tray of food entered that he began to feel the hunger gnawing at his stomach. He took no notice of the agent at first, but as she entered his cell he couldn't help but play with her, he was the God of Mischief after all.

Giving one of his infamous grins he asked "Am I to have a maid during my stay? How thoughtful of the Director." The agent was annoyed at his comment and practically threw his tray on the table.

"I'm not your maid." She said crying not to let her annoyance get the best of her. "I'm here to keep the little prince under control, SHIELD thinks you childish and so I am here to babysit."

That angered Loki, he clenched his fists and did all he could to not grab the insolent wench by her throat and show her her place. But that would not gain him any favours with the Director and he would not be able to see Emily again.

He simply ignored her comment and started to dig into whatever it was they had given him to eat. It looked and smelled delicious, but he couldn't help but turn his nose up at mortal cooking. He would never admit that he liked their food.

"Honestly, don't act so stuck up. Its honeyed lamb and lemon couscous, it's better than what I've been eating over the past few weeks." The Agent scoffed.  
"Oh? So they treat the super villain better than their own agent? Interesting." He smiled to himself, she was walking straight into his hands.  
"Don't flatter yourself, I've been undercover for the past few weeks. Plus your only getting what the Avengers haven't devoured already. When they said Thor had an appetite I didn't expect them to mean he would eat everything in sight."  
Loki couldn't help but smile at that,but he was annoyed that she was not getting annoyed like he had wanted.  
"So you're an undercover agent, is that why you cover your faces high a mask?" He inquired interested as to why she would wear one. She simply sighed and rolled her eyes. "Is it because you have a scar you want to hide?" Her eyes flickered at this. "Aha, so it is a scar, physical or mental?" He asked in his most charming voice.  
"I'll tell you what, you tell me all about your daddy issues with Odin and Laufey then I'll tell you about the mask." She said defiantly before turning and practically storming out like a spiteful child. Loki smiled at this little success, even though it was not what he wanted. This new guard of his was going to be a challenge, he loved a good challenge.

**hahaha I new you wouldn't guess Coulson! But yeah so, Emily and Loki finally back together and they just seem to clash, what a horrible new start for our lovely couple. Lets hope they can sort things out before shit goes down. Anyways,**

**see you soon ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Emily was furious as she stalked through the halls of SHIELD. How could Loki talk to her like that! He didn't recognise her, that she could see easily, but he was the prisoner here not her and he had no right to talk to her like that!

She decided then that she was not going to let Loki know it was her until she at least had a little fun with him. Payback for having left her for so long. She felt more confidant and in control as she walked into the kitchens to get some food for herself. Grabbing a plate of whatever was left and sat herself down at the counter.

To her dismay, that was when Tony Stark decided to raid the kitchens in search for alcohol.  
He most likely had a huge stash of his own hidden somewhere already, but he wouldn't want to waste all the good stuff in one go, now would he? Emily thought to herself.

"So tiger, how's it going with the Green Goblin? He get you all worked up yet?"  
"Stark, I'm not the kind of person to let him get under my skin so easily," she replied flatly.  
"Whoa there, didn't mean to insult." He said holding his hands up, "you know where they keep the alcohol around here?"  
"What makes you think I'll tell you even if I knew?" Emily said throwing her empty plate in the sink.  
"Well if you tell me, we could have some fun," he said looking at her suggestively. Emily gave him a dead stare "you can't kill a man for tryin', especially when your wearing a suit like that!"

It was true that Emily's black pants where tight and her leather jacket showed off her curvy figure quiet well. Even though she was loath to admit it, she was pleased Stark found her attractive.

"So, I've been going over your file." He stated. Emily raised her eyebrows at this. "I figured Fury gave you ours, it only seemed fair."  
"But you didn't get yours off of Fury." It was a statement more than a question.  
"Hell no, he wouldn't have allowed it. I found something interesting," he said coyly.  
"Oh? And what would that be?" Emily tensed slightly.

"It says you were a med student, in your last year of studies when you left and came to SHIELD. You blasted your way through training, excelling in almost everything, and quickly became one of our top agents. Also have a tattoo on your right shoulder, though it didn't specify what it was of." He asked.

"Don't you have a picture in your files?"  
"No the file came without a pic. Anyway, I was thinking about getting some art done and I was thinking maybe you could show me," he said with a grin, raising his eyebrows  
"Right, you sure your not just trying to see if you can get me to take my shirt off?" Emily teased.  
"Well if you want to take your shirt off you can, I've not got any objections."

Emily simply smiled and used her finger to open a cabinet, she pulled out a bottle of vodka and turned to the door. "Nice try Stark, but you'll have to do better next time."  
Emily left the kitchen, but she stayed in the corridor watching in amusement as Stark tried, and failed, to open the alcohol cabinet.

Walking through the halls with a spring in her step, Emily returned to her room.

Loki sat in his cell, thinking. He had little else to do in the small cell of his. He understood why the humans were so cautious of him, but he was there to help them, they could cut him some slack. They had yet to tell him what he was really here for, from what he heard he thought it was probably just repercussions from the large portal that he had created, though that seemed a little strange now considering how long ago it had been since he had attacked.

He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he concentrated on how to get his way and find Emily again. Thinking of Emily, to his wonder, made thoughts of his new 'babysitter' as she had called it, that woman was feisty and didn't back down easily. Loki found himself thinking of ways to trick her, to anger her and to make her life as miserable as his would be during his confinement. He wasn't about to sit back and take his treatment lightly. She should respect him, he was a God.

With those thoughts in mind he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Emily lay awake, she felt restless as she lay on her bed. Her watch was ticking loudly on her side table and it was beginning to frustrate her. She looked at the time, it was one in the morning. She should be getting as much rest as she could, Loki was not going to go easy on her after what happened yesterday. She felt a twinge of regret in her stomach, she knew that Loki's family was a delicate subject and it was low of her to poke at it like that.

Pushing those those thoughts of guilt away she tossed over trying to get some sleep.

Thor sat on his bed uneasy, he had heard what Loki demanded of the Director and he wasn't pleased that his brother should ask such a high price. He was concerned about what Loki would do, or try to do if they set him free for a week. It would be very unwise to do so but he could not see a way around it. Loki would either get his way or not help at all.

It was at times like these that Thor would count on his brother for assistance, with his sharp wit, quick thinking and silver tongue Loki could get he and the Warriors Three out of any mess. It was to his great displeasure that the ultimatum was now being given by his sharp witted, quick thinking, silver tongued brother. Thor feared he could be easily swayed by Loki's words and the rest of SHIELD might follow suit.

Loki could do anything with a weeks time off of SHILED's radar. He could get together the scattered men who had helped him last time. He could cause mayhem and destruction, as was his hobby now. Last time he was on Midgard he had told Thor he wanted to visit Jane, what if he harmed her? He would not allow that to happen.

Thor sighed. This could only end in disaster. He would have words with his brother on the morrow, and try and dissuade him from whatever it was he planned. But that was for later, now he would try and rest.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Loki woke up to his cell door sliding open and his newest plaything entering his pen. The masked agent walked up to the table, she carried two trays this time and she set them down. She took one look in his direction then took her seat on the opposite side to Loki.

Stretching slightly, he stood up and yawned. He took his seat at the table and looked at the trays. One had two plates of breakfast, the other an unopened bottle of vodka and six shot glasses. Loki looked up at the agent raising an eyebrow. She simply took her breakfast plate and started eating.

"What is your name, Agent?"  
"I'm Special Agent Veritas." She replied after swallowing a mouthful. Loki's eyebrows shot up at the name.  
"Veritas? As in the Latin for truth?"  
"I thought you'd like it." She said flashing a smug smile.  
"Why darling, did you chose it just for me?" he practically purred and Emily had to suppress a shiver.  
"We'll talk later, eat your breakfast now." She replied curtly.  
Loki chuckled and took his plate, he ate the blueberry muffin and drank a little of his black coffee, he thought it strange that she would know his preference, but he brushed it off as a coincidence.

Once they had finished their meal, Loki looked at the bottle then at the agent expectantly.

"I didn't know what to do with it so I decided we might play a game." She said.  
"And what game would that be?" He asked, intrigued.  
"Truth or dare," she smiled. "It's fairly simple, you pick truth I ask you a question, you pick dare and I get to chose a dare for you."  
"And the vodka?"  
"The vodka is for if you wimp out of the dare or refuse to answer the question."

Loki smiled, this was going to be fun. He was going to make this mortal regret entering his cell this morning.  
"I pick truth." Eyes gleaming with mischief.  
"What was...the first trick you ever played on Thor?"  
Loki's brow creased as he thought back, many many years, to find his earliest pranks.  
"I remember...turning his hair pink, I think that was the first of many tricks." He smiled, so did Emily as she tried to imagine the huge muscle machine with bright pink hair.  
"I pick truth."  
"Why were you chosen to be my 'babysitter', as you put it so nicely the other day?"  
"Because I'm a good agent, Fury trusts me. When I am given I job I do it quickly and efficiently, no questions, no fuss. I'm not one easily swayed by pretty words." She smirked.  
"Hum," Loki seemed to be thinking her statement over. "I pick dare."  
"I dare you to change your clothes, like you did in Stuttgart, into a pirate costume."  
Loki gave her a quizzical look, then complied to her wishes, he now sat in front of her with a ginger beard and eyepatch, a black feathered captain's hat and a coat that made him look just the part. Emily tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't stop the snort that came out when his outfit was completed.  
"You look marvellous, truly wonderful."  
"I don't doubt it, now truth or dare?" He inquired.  
"I'm gonna stick with truth, for the moment, captain."  
"Huuum, lets see now, what was your most embarrassing experience?" He smirked.  
"I once got tipsy at a friends party and stripped for my German teacher. Lessons after that got very awkward." the girls looked down at her glass, as though in shame. "Your turn,"  
She was being surprisingly open to him.  
"Truth,"  
"Why did you come back?"  
"Are you referring to now, or to however long ago it was that I had the Avengers running around scouring the country after me?" He said rather proudly.  
"Now."  
"I came back because, unlike what you may think, I'm not fond of being a prisoner on Asgard. If I help you, I get pardoned and I am free. I have unfinished business shall we say." The girl seemed disappointed by his answer, though she hid it well. Loki couldn't guess why.  
"I chose dare."  
"I dare you to give me the same show you gave your German teacher." He said with a smirk.  
Emily rolled her eyes-she should have seen that one coming. She reached for the bottle of vodka and poured herself a shot. Kicking her head back the liquid burned down her throat and she slammed the glass down on the table.  
"Such a disappointment." Loki shook his head teasingly. "Truth."  
"Do you still think of Thor as a brother or friend?" Loki's smile faded and his pirate costume vanished, replaced with his normal armour. Loki stared her down with cold eyes as he took the shot she offered.  
Emily chose to do a dare.  
"If I can't see the rest of you, let me see your pretty little face, take off the mask."  
"Never." Emily said before doing another shot.  
"Dare."  
"If you want me to unmask then you have to. Show me your Jötun form." Loki's lips twitched, amused at how she had turned his question around. He didn't change though, he wouldn't want the whole of SHIELD seeing his true self. Taking the shot he looked at Emily who asked for a truth.  
"Why did you join SHIELD?"  
"I was looking for someone," Emily said quietly, "someone I thought I'd lost." She was looking down at her glass.  
"Did you find them?" Loki could work with that, play on her obvious feelings for this person. She looked up at him then as she said yes, her eyes were betraying her tumult of emotions inside.

"Truth."  
Emily took a deep breath, she tried to think of a sensible question, none came to mind.  
"Out of the SHIELD agents and Avengers, who would you kiss, who would you spend the night with and who would you marry?"  
Loki was taken aback by her question, he thought she would ask him something serious or important but she came out with that?  
"Well I would kiss Stark, his intelligence is impressive for a mortal, and I would be able to cherish the look on his face for an eternity. I would spend a night with..." Loki paused, looking her up and down. "With Agent Hill, but you my dear" his face turned into a sexy snarl, "I would cherish you for every night after that."  
Emily's brow furrowed, and she nodded looking unimpressed.  
"What? Dose that not sound appealing to you? Being the wife of a god?" He asked slyly.  
"Oh, I was just confused, I thought Black Widow would be in there somewhere."  
"I fear Agent Barton's already got his claws in her, though if you want her to 'be in there' I wouldn't mind her joining us on occasion." Emily shook her head in astonishment, the smug bastard.  
"Truth."  
"Humm, tell me about the person you were trying to find." Emily's hand wrapped around the full shot glass, but she spoke up much to Loki's delight.  
"He was- he was different from everyone else. People judged him because of his past, granted he did do some pretty stupid things, like have-you-lost-your-mind stupid things." She smiled faintly still staring at the glass. "But he was kind and sweet when he wanted to be." She did a sort of sighing-laugh then tipped her head back and drank the shot.  
"That's not fair, now I have to do a shot to even it out." Loki said teasingly picking up his glass.  
"How long has it been since you were last on earth?"  
"Time on Asgard passes quicker than on Midgard, it has been nearly thirty-five years since I left." Emily's throat tightened, thirty-five years there was no way he hadn't moved on already. He had probably forgotten her, but he did say he had unfinished business, could he have really waited that long? Emily didn't know if she would be able to.

The woman's face was neutral, she was good at hiding her emotions on her face, but her eyes showed a hurt look, like what Loki had said had burned her. He was just about to ask what it was when her pocket beeped. She stood abruptly, all emotions now gone from her cold eyes.

"Duty calls," she excused herself. "You can finish of the bottle, if you want." She said leaving the cell and walking to the door.

Well that hadn't gone exactly as he had planned, though he knew a little more about his newest jailer. He could always use this 'person' she was looking for against her if he had to. Loki looked around his cell, he was bored and he found himself wanting her to return. She was good company and he was beginning to take a liking to her, which was ridiculous he chided himself. He could hardly start to care for all the mortals that showed him some sort of civility.

Loki took the bottle of vodka and drank it from the bottle, it was quiet weak compared the Asgardian alcohol he was used to and so he had no fear of getting drunk.

**Hope you liked this chapter, I spent ages writing and rewriting it. Still not too sure about it.  
Anyway you guys can tell me what you think in your reviews! (I love to hear from you so don't be shy )  
Until next chapter ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Emily walked towards the Director's office, she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach though that could have just been the alcohol. Ohhh shit, was this about the alcohol?  
Taking a deep breath and trying to make sure she still had her balance Emily knocked on the door.

"Come in." Came Fury's voice.  
Emily was very nervous as she entered the office, trying to look as normal as she could though she could help but feel hot and sweaty. Her nerves were getting the better of her.  
As soon as she walked in Fury dropped the files he was looking at and stared at her.

"Are you ok, agent?" He asked eyebrow arched.  
"I'm fine, sir."  
"Well you better be. It turns out our secret landing location was not so secret, now the word is out and people know that Loki is back on earth."  
"What people?"  
"The public remain unaware, though we can't be sure if that'll be for much longer. When Loki cam to earth before he had people working for him, he said that SHIELD had enemies who were willing to collaborate with him. Those people are now aware that he has returned and are more than likely gonna want him back," the director paused and let out a sigh, perching himself on the edge of his desk. "We are doing our best to keep his location secret, but it's only a matter of time before they find him. We need to know that you are comfortable enough with him so that if, for whatever reason, he needs to be let out you can keep him under control and protect him."

This was a lot of news for Emily, she was beginning to worry about these 'people' who Loki had been working with, anyone willing to help a man bring an alien army to their world so that said man can enslave their race was not the type of person you would want to get mixed up with. But it was too late to turn back now, besides Emily wouldn't want to say no and let someone else take care of him. She wouldn't be able to trust anyone save Thor with that.

"Agent? It's a lot to take on, and god knows Loki is hard to get along with, so we understand if you say no."  
Yeah right, no one else'll take that offer so I'm your only hope with this one. She thought to herself.  
"That's fine sir. I'm perfectly capable of this. You can count on me."  
"Good, we need more agents like you. Your dismissed."

Emily walked out of the office and relief washed over her as she closed the door. Either he didn't know about the drinking game yet, or he didn't care. Whichever it was she didn't really care, he could hardly move her to another assignment now, they both knew no other agent would agree to letting Loki out of his cage unless absolutely necessary.

Walking back through the Helicarrier Emily mulled over the events of the morning. She thought about going straight back to Loki but decided against it. They had gotten in pretty deep by the time she had left and she didn't want to have to go back to Loki and have him unknowingly question her about him leaving her. Instead she passed by her room to grab her iPod and then she made a beeline straight to the gym.

Emily had been feeling lazy and she needed to make sure she didn't start slacking because her job involved sitting around watching Loki all day. Upon entering the gym she found Captain Rogers at the punching bags. Giving him a polite nod as she entered she went for the treadmills. Running made her feel better, especially when she was listening to music while doing it, it made her feel free in a way that she couldn't feel otherwise.

Blasting Rise Against's Saviour in her ears Emily started to run along to the beat. Her feet where thudding underneath her and the pounding of the punchbag were far far away from Emily at the moment. Right now she was free, running in her only little world made especially for her. A world where Loki didn't need to be kept in a cage, where they didn't need to worry about people finding out he was back on earth. A world that was impossible, but that didn't matter because for now it was enough to keep her going.

After about ten minutes Emily realised Steve had left. But she wasn't alone on the gym.  
She flicked the switch and treadmill stopped beneath her, turning around she found a certain redhead watching her. Natasha Romanoff was staring at her, as though she was deciding weather or not to buy that certain model.

"Can I help you?" Emily asked a little awkwardly after a few moments of silent staring.  
"That stunt you pulled with the vodka, why?"  
"I had a bottle of vodka that I sure as hell wasn't going to drink alone, and a way to get closer to Loki. It's probably risky, but Loki will be intrigued with me now and I can work with that. I'm not stupid enough to think that we'll become friends, but we'll be able to tolerate each other better and he may be more inclined to listen to what I have to say." Emily rambled slightly, Agent Romanoff sill staring at her quizzically.  
"What if that doesn't work and he takes advantage of you."  
"I'll do my best to fight him off." She replied simply.

Romanoff turned then making her way to the mats used for hand-to-hand combat training, she motioned for Emily to follow. Emily did so somewhat anxiously, Agent Romanoff was more commonly know to the public as Black Widow, one of SHIELD's top agents along with Hawkeye. She had been trained from a very young age and was practically unbeatable in hand-to-hand.

"Let's say I'm Loki and you have to stop me. Show me what you got." She instructed.  
Emily was silent for a moment, she got into hr preferred fighting stance and simply watched the other agent. Emily was studying her, watching how she moved, analysing what would be the best way to attack her opponent. Widow was the first to move, instead of at taking straight-on she chose to swing for Emily's right side.

Emily predicted her move seconds before she made it and she managed to dodge the attack, swiping her leg along that mat in an attempt to knock down her fellow agent. Romanoff was able to avoid being knocked flat and went to punch Emily in the back. Luckily Emily was able to roll forward and push herself up and around in time for Romanoff's next attack.

They went on like that for an hour or so. Romanoff won most matches and they managed to draw a few but Emily was never the clear victor. During pauses between matches while they took a break for water Natasha would point out what Emily was doing wrong and give her advice s to how she could improve her techniques. Emily was rather enjoying the way her day had gone, Natasha had always been a good Agent but never one to talk or make nice. This was her being supportive and friendly, and even though it meant Emily was getting smashed into the mats and would probably wake up with multiple bruises tomorrow, she preferred this to a judgmental silence and distrust.

Once the two women where out of breath and desperately in need of showers did they stop. It was into the afternoon by then and neither had had any lunch and hey were beginning to feel the hunger. Emily reached for her iPod that had been abandoned to the benches. She thanked the other agent and left.

After her shower Emily felt clean and relaxed, though rather weak and hungry. She needed some good food and a relaxing afternoon. Unfortunately for her Thor, Stark and Natasha were in the kitchen.

"Agent Veritas, nice workout in the gym. I was tempted to come join you two," Tony said, a sly grin on his face.  
"She woulda beet he crap out of you, Stark. She tougher than she looks." Natasha said before picking up her plate and leaving.  
Thor turned around from the packet of pop tarts he was devouring. "Ahhhhh Agent...uhm,"  
"Veritas, it's my code name-Latin for truth." Emily smiled.  
"Milady, what pray tell is your real name? These code names do confuse me."  
"Emily, Thor. My name is Emily." She laughed.  
"Lady Emily, how do you fare with my brother?"  
"Pretty damn well, I'd say. She gave him a bottle of vodka and don't save any for me." Stark pouted.  
"He's behaving." Emily said ignoring Stark's comment and Thor's confused look.  
"Would you mind if I go and talk to him?" Thor asked permission, like a pupil asking his teacher for a hall pass.  
"I don't see why not. He might be in a better mood this morning, though you should avoid going into his cell. That would not go down well."

Thor smiled to her and promptly left, pop tarts in hand, to talk to his brother. Thor was glad Lady Emily had told him Loki was in a good mood, that would make it easier for Thor to try and find out why he wanted to, and perhaps convince Loki not to, wander Midgard for a week un-monitored by SHIELD.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

**Sorry about the shortness not this chapter you guys, I've just had a busy week and I can't seem to find time to write much. I've also got an idea for a different ff that I'm working on so updates may be a little slower...please forgive me**

Loki had been throughly bored ever since Fury had called away his jailer and stopped their little game. He found himself thinking about her and what he would do when she came back. Loki did not have feelings for her, the thought alone was absurd he only had feelings for Emily and as soon as the Director let him see her again all would be well.

No he thought of the jailer because befriending her could help him in more ways than one. He could use her friendship to convince that band of mutant misfits that he should be allowed his week if freedom. He could use her to get a little more freedom around SHIELD headquarters and maybe he would be allowed to wonder free from his confounded cell. His thoughts were wiring through his head but he soon became bored of them.

Loki was not fond of loneliness. That is why he had put up with Thor's friends, adopting them as his own despite their relentless teasing. At least then he could pretend he wasn't alone. When Loki had found out about his true heritage he had realised that he was alone, none treated him the same way they did Thor and he now knew the reason why. No one loved a Frost Giant.

His thoughts were broken by someone entering the holding bay, Loki looked up smiling expecting to see his newest 'friend' returning to him. He felt a sliver of disappointment when it was not her who had returned but another agent with a tray of food.

Come to think of it I am rather hungry. He thought, keeping a look of calm boredom on his face.

The agent entered his cell somewhat nervously, his arms held steady on the tray but his eyes gave away his fear. Loki smirked internally, at least I inspire something in them.

"Your lunch, sir." The agent said trying to sound more confidant that he felt. He placed the tray on the table and turned to leave. Loki waited till the man was gone before he started on his meal.

Once he had finished with his food Loki was bored once again. He sat in the confinement of his cell, a rather silly cell in his opinion. The mortals had done nothing to stop his magic and were far to dependant on their technology to worry about him getting out.

Little did they know, a flick of his wrist and he would be out and free, but that would do little in his favour. Loki needed the mortals to trust him somewhat before he was to be allowed out. If he took things too fast he would not be able to convince them to let him see Emily again.

Loki sat alone with his thoughts for another hour before someone else paid him a visit. He had been hoping to see the guard again, she was tolerable and could keep him entertained. He was beginning to wonder if he had pushed her too far that morning with the 'truth or dare' game. He didn't want to think he had, she had been gone for a long time though, perhaps she would not return?

Loki almost jumped out of his chair when he heard the door crashing open. He knew immediately that it could not have been his guard, she was quiet and graceful. The person who was now coming to torment him was a loud, arrogant colt.  
Thor strode into the holding bay with a smile on his features and a box of mortal food in his hand.

"Loki! It is a fine afternoon, is it not?" He asked boisterously.  
"How am I to know since I am stuck here?" Loki replied flatly, Thor looked sheepish when he realised what Loki meant.  
"Brother, I have come to ask you what your intentions are-" he started.  
"First of all, I AM NOT YOUR BROTHER." He spat each word out venomously, "Second, my intentions are no concern of yours."  
"What is this foolishness you ask of the Director? He told me that you demand to be let loose on Midgard for an entire week without any interference from SHIELD whatsoever. I must say that that is quite ambitious even for you."  
"What do you mean?"  
"I simply find it incredible that you could believe the mortals would let you free after all you have done. They may not have your wit, Loki, but the Midgardians are not as stupid as you make them out to be."  
"I beg to differ, they will give me what I want and I can assist them in return."  
"You can or you will?" Loki's brow arched.  
"We'll done, Thor you are finally beginning to understand the importance of words. I'm very impressed." Loki said sarcasm dripping from his voice, though he was genuinely impressed that his brother had picked up on that.  
"Why are you still here?" He asked flatly, not even bothering to look up.  
"Please, Loki, do not start another scheme. I am willing to help you on your way to a pardon but if you threaten or hurt any mortal I will not hesitate to send you back to Asgard." Thor turned with a look of finality and made his way to the door.  
He heard a soft chuckle coming from Loki behind him.  
"But then Thor, however are you going to protect this realm from its newest threat, surely you have learnt by now not to walk into battle blindfolded?" Came his canny response.

Thor left the holding bay knowing in his heart that Loki was right, they needed him but it looked as though Loki needed them too.

**Sorry this chap is a little shorter than the others I couldn't figure out how to keep it going anymore though. Arrrrg, where o were has my little muse gone?  
I don't know but hopefully I'll find it before soon.  
Until next time ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

**I would like to thank you all for your kind words and support, even my last story is still getting favourites and it really warms my heart.  
Enough with that though, one with the show...**

Emily had been thinking, about Loki and how he was locked up in that cell all day. She had avoided him last night as well as the afternoon, she didn't quiet feel up to talking with him and keeping concentrated didn't seem like something she could do for long. She She walked to his cell, breakfast of bacon and eggs still steaming on the tray she carried.

Loki looked up when she walked in, his expression changed from bored to annoyed. Emily wondered why, but she didn't pick up on it. Making her way to the door she balanced the tray in one hand while entering the code with the other.

"Someone looks like a sourpuss today," she remarked walking to the table where he sat staring past her.

"It was interminably boring yesterday once you left. I've got no company without you." He said matter-of-factly. "Don't flatter yourself, I prefer to talk with someone present, People would think me insane if I sat talking alone." He added noting her self-confidant smile.

"How did your little chat with Thor go? He asked me if you were in a good mood yesterday, I figured he came to talk?"  
"That oaf will always be the same, he thinks a smile and a pat on the back will make everything better." Loki said with a sneer. "If he asks after me again, tell him not to bother."  
"He cares about you, Loki. Surely you can see that he has the best intentions at heart."  
"Please don't tell me you are going sentimental, I would hate to have to ask SHEILD to get me a new guard because my current one is blinded by sentimentality." He said with a small smile.

She scoffed. "You'll need more than brotherly love to get me to crumble because of my emotions. I did notice it was quite small and boring in here as well, so I've convinced Fury to give us the gym for an afternoon."  
"And what may I ask, will you have us do in there?" He asked looking at her predatorily.  
"Dunno, whatever takes your fancy, under certain limitations of corse." She flashed a knowing smile at him which he returned. "Only..."  
"Yes," Loki encouraged silkily, leaning in. He was enjoying this, trying to make people uncomfortable, and she was a challenge because she was flirting along with him.  
"Thor will be watching," she said it in a deductive manner, leaning towards him as he did her. Once the words actually computed in his brain, Loki's smile dropped and she pulled back giggling. "Sorry to disappoint, but it was insisted that another member of the Avengers be present," she said walking to the door when she turned around and went back into seduction mode. "You know, just in case you try and make me kneel."

Loki had a hard time not throwing something at her for mocking him, but he was also great full that she had managed to get him out of his cell so early on. Apparently this flirtatious friendship was working out faster than expected. Loki did love it when his schemes worked.

He ate alone again and waited impatiently till she would return and get him out of his prison. After sitting in the hard chair for most of the morning his backside was beginning to ache, Loki got up and stretched before laying back on the bed. He found himself to be in a good mood and couldn't stop the small smile that graced his lips when she did return. She smiled back at him coyly as she held up the handcuffs. Loki raised an eyebrow and didn't move from his place on the bed.

"Well well well, I didn't know you were the kinky type," his smile was cocky and smug.  
Emily decided she was sick of his playing and decided that if he wanted it that badly he could bloody well have it. She strode over to his bed a coy smile gracing her lips. She practically crawled onto the bed and straddled him, Loki looked faintly surprised and looked as though he was unsure of how to act. She kept the smile on her features as she leaned forward, pushing her chest in front of her so that her breasts were on display. Her warm breath tickled his neck as she leaned to his ear.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." Her voice was low, silky and seductive. Loki could feel the shiver build but refused to let her see how that had effected him. He felt the cool metal of the cuffs clasp around his wrists as his guard laughed. He felt a pang in his chest, Emily laughed like that.

She pushed off of him and clambered off the bed. She was thoroughly enjoying herself and the confused look Loki was wearing only made he joy last.

"Come on then, you. I may have reserved the gym for the afternoon but if we don't get there quick someone else will take our spot." She walked to the door of his cell and, for once, held the door open for him. Loki got up slowly, he was still a little shocked with her behaviour but the prospect of being able to leave his confounded cell brought his senses back.

He stepped out of the doors, tension in his shoulders building slightly as he thought that any second now an alarm would ring and it would have all been a cruel trick. But no alarms rung. His guard led him through the doors, silently as though she was avoiding any distraction that could mean his escape. Loki noted her wariness and was not sure if he should take it to be an insult or a complement.

Once they were walking through the hallways of the base, Emily noticed the number of armed guards patrolling the halls had increased in the last ten minutes. She couldn't go more than five paces before another one showed up.

Fury may trust her, but he was damned if he let Loki walk through his base with so little security. After what happened when the Avengers were first called together he would prefer to keep he chances of another world catastrophe at a minimum.

Halfway to the gym Thor appeared and Loki seemed to radiate contempt. He pated his brother on the shoulder in a brotherly fashion and greeted him warmly. Loki returned a judging stare and a small grunt of annoyance. She couldn't help but find the two brothers amusing. Though she knew better than to laugh in such a situation, Loki would not take kindly to mockery.

Thor, sensing his brother's discomfort at his arrival, decided to make idle chat with Emily rather than attempt more conversation with Loki. He talked about Jane and how he was off to meet her one again this weekend. He had been granted time off to go see his little girlfriend, Loki was helping too so he should be allowed the same right? Wrong. Loki had tried to take over this pathetic planet and they would not likely grant him his wish. Despite knowing this Loki was insistent that he would get his week off to visit Emily.

**Sooo yeah. Loki's being let out of his cell, he's gonna be in the gym with Emily. Who knows maybe some yoga pants and a go on the treadmills and Loki will be happy to cooperate, sneaky devil ;)  
Hope you didn't get too bored, I know that this was quite a long wait for one of my updates. Others wait weeks between their updates though *hides behind sofa*  
Anyways, thanks for all my lovely reviewers.  
see you next time ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

**Ok first off sorry for not posting sooner, I've had a ton of homework and exams to work on, but they should be thinning out now so maybe I'll have more time to write. Just like to say a huge thanks to the reviewers/followers/favoriters, i love you all so much. Anyway, won't keep you any longer...**

They entered the gym and Loki took one look before he decided he didn't like it. There were blue matts all over and lots of Midgardian equipment. He failed to see of what use they were, nor was he intent on finding out. The room smelled relatively clean but the natural brightness of it compared to the dim lighting on the deletion level was assaulting his eyes.

Though the room was not to his taste, Loki was glad to be out of his cell, it was small and boring and held no interest. The gym was larger and more 'friendly' than his prison, it was good enough for him, at least for now. This gym would allow him to leave his cell once every two days, he would get some exercise and be free to do what he wanted within this room. Provided it didn't cause any harm or damage.

"So, what takes your fancy." Emily piped up breaking Loki from his revery.  
He turned to her a gleam in his eye. "I'm not sure what I want is quite appropriate with Thor standing right there." He gave her once of his oh-so-charming smiles.  
Emily tried not to jump him then and there, she had waited five years for his return and with what just happened on his bed not twenty minutes ago, she was fed up of waiting around. Swallowing hard, Emily managed to reply.

"I meant gym-wise. What would you prefer, treadmills, weightlifting, boxing, we have a few targets you could practice with..."  
Loki saw the treadmills and remembered them from thoughts and memories he had gathered from his mind controlling days. Walking towards the machine he shed his metal armour and was left in black pants and a tunic.  
"I'll be fine on my own. Unless you wish to join me." He said flashing her another grin. Emily felt her stomach flip and she excused herself, Thor was perfectly capable of keeping Loki under control.

Emily left the gym and headed for the lounge where the rest of the Avengers where chilling out, except the two scientists who where down in the labs trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Natasha was staring at the television, though it didn't look like she was following whatever soap was currently on. Her eyes were glazed over and she had a far off look. Hawkeye was eating some of the lunches leftovers, he sat hunched over his bowl, wolfing down what was on his plate. The Captain was sat at the table staring confusedly at a laptop screen. He was still behind on the latest technology and had difficulty even with some of the simpler tasks.

"Everything alright, Steve? You look a bit lost,"  
"Oh, Emily! Didn't see you come in. I was just...uhhh well I was..." He was rambling slightly and his cheeks grew a shade of pink. Emily was very intrigued now and as she walked over to him, Steve simply shrugged and turned back to the screen. Emily peered over his shoulder, to her surprise he was looking at jewellery, his page was full of necklaces and bracelets. All of them were beautiful and expensive.

"Steve, do you have a secret triple life?" Emily joked with her eyebrow cocked. Steve only blushed more.  
"Actually, I met someone. We've been together almost two months now and...well I thought I should send her a gift seeing as I'm away so much. I just don't know what to chose," he admitted. Emily gave him a comforting smile and took a seat beside him.  
"Tell me what she's like, what style clothing does she wear? Does she have a particular stone that she likes, or maybe she only wears certain brand?"

Steve smiled, glad that not only did he have help with choosing his present but he was sure Emily would know how to purchase the item online without getting extremely frustrated and breaking another of SHIELD's laptops.

Emily sat with the Captain a little while longer, they talked and finally came to a decision on a beautiful diamond and pearl necklace. Steve was very thankful of the help she offered, in truth Emily was glad to be away from Loki and not have to worry about him. It was difficult for her to be so close to him all the time and not be able to tell him or even hint at the fact that it was her.

She still had doubts as to weather he still cared about her as he had thirty years ago. It was hard for her to wrap her head around the difference in time they had spent apart. She was being silly, all she had wished for the past five years was finally here and she was trying to get away from him. It made no sense. Even if they would never have that romantic reunion she had dreams about (and yes, there had been ones like all of those silly rom-coms with the sunsets and the rose petals). She should at least be with him for what short time she could before he left for Asgard once more.

Emily was walking back to the gym, she was feeling better than when she had left. She was now sure she could withstand his smiles and flirtatious jokes because she had no idea when they would be gone again. That thought made her sad, she pushed it to the back of her mind and walked down the halls once more.

Emily swiped her finger on the pad and the door clicked open for her, she stepped into the gym, immediately picking up on the tension between the brothers. Loki had stopped his workout and was standing on the immobile machine, arms folded across his chest, an annoyed look creasing his features. Thor was stat at the bench on the opposite side of the room he was staring at his brother and Emily could tell some serious shit was about to go down if she didn't step in quickly.

Luckily for her, Emily didn't need to cause a distraction from whatever had caused the two brothers to engage in such a fierce staring match. Red lights started to flash around the room and the alarm bells shrieked. Emily jumped in surprise as did Loki and Thor. The latter swiftly took Mjolnir from around his belt, holding it at the ready and scanning for any signs of a threat.

"Agent, come in. Agent Veritas,"  
"Yes, sir," Emily immediately responded to Fury's call on her earpiece.  
"We need you to take Loki back to his cell. Get Thor up here with the rest of us. We are under attack. Looks like Loki's little friends miss him."  
"Yes, sir...Thor your needed up top, I'll keep Loki safe." She said seeing his worried expression. "It is my job, he won't come to any harm. I promise."

**Ohhhhhhhhh damn! Shits gonna go down in SHIELD!  
Really excited for the next chapter, hopefully when I write it it will sound as cool as it is in my head. Love the reviews and thank you to all favouriters/followers, you make me giggle with excitement (though that might just be Loki)  
See you next chapter (which will hopefully be soon) ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

**oooh this is gonna be good one, I can tell...**

**sorry though, before we get started I thought I might warn you this chappy has depiction of violence, it's not that bad I don't think but ya know, just a heads up.**

Thor ran through the halls desperate to stop whoever was threatening his friends and his brother. His loud footsteps echoed down the halls so that it sounded like he was still just outside the gym.

"What is happening?" Loki asked his guard as he saw her open a cabinet at the back of the gym and pull out a few throwing knives as well as what Loki could only call a half sword.  
"It looks like you have some old friends visiting. Only they aren't here for tea and biscuits." A loud boom sounded from above them as a small explosive went of a few floors up. "I have to get you back to your cell, this is for you're safety so please don't make my job difficult." Emily asked.

She was nervous. Really nervous.

Emily had fought enemies countless time and come out on top. She had been a bodyguard for important personnel and packages before. But she had never loved them. Neither were those packages smug Gods who hated the human race.

Emily tucked the weapons into various places in her suit that were made specifically for such occasions. She took a deep breath and stuck her head slightly around the corner of the doorway. It seemed clear so she took a tentative step out side. Her nerves were running rampant and she was beginning to sweat under her leather clothing.

No sooner had she stepped out the door, a gang of armed soldiers rounded the corner where she was.

_**Shit.**_

Loki was standing behind his guard, waiting for her to move so that he could follow where she lead. He wasn't particularly happy about going back to his stingy cell but anything was better than sticking around when Thor might return. Loki was beginning to get impatient and almost pushed the Agent out the door and down the hall when he felt himself flying backwards onto the soft blue mats behind him.

Loki felt a pain in his chest like he had been kicked or something, when he looked towards the door where that idiot had been standing mere moments ago he found it was closed and she was nowhere in sight.

What the hell did she think she was doing? Loki growled as he got to his feet and went to the door. It was locked. Loki tried to used his magic to open it but nothing happened. His idiot of a brother must have managed to insulate this confounded room so that his magic would not come to him. Loki cursed under his breath.

He heard a pounding at the door then, it took him by surprise and he stepped back. Through the security camera by the side of the door Loki could see a gang of soldiers pounding on the door, trying to get it open.

Wait, if the soldiers where out there, where was his guard? Loki felt his stomach drop, she had pushed him in to save him but hadn't got in herself. They must've killed her. Her body was not in the camera shot that was the only reasonable explanation. She wouldn't have been able to get away fast enough to escape. She was dead and he was alone.

Loki realised with horror that his little assassination squad was slowly but surely breaking down the door. It would be a matter of seconds before they came crashing in. Right now he had no magic, no guard and his brother had been sent off elsewhere. There was no escaping this, he would be capture by whomever it was after him and he would not likely see his little angel again.

Loki's heart sunk as the realisation dawned on him. What a horrible potential last thought. Loki moved to the back of the room standing by the back wall. The door came crashing down with a tremendous thud. Not long after two soldiers ran in.  
Loki expected gunfire, expected an attack on him, expected the pain to start.

However, what Loki didn't expect was the leather clad figure dropping down from the ceiling, lading on and simultaneously knocking the two soldiers out. Said figure then spun around killing the next two guards by throwing knives through their throats, the blood from their wounds spattering across the walls and floors as they fell. The next tow who entered where prepared for her attacks, circling her and attacking from front and back.

Loki's guard bent swiftly avoiding an attack from behind ad swinging her leg around, like she had in training with Black Widow, knocked the guard in front of her off his feet. The attacker behind her had regained his balance after his dodged attack and was now going to plunge a knife through her chest. She rolled to the side as quickly as possible and dodged his attack again, only barely thought as his knife managed to tear through her leather and cut a small but deep gash in her shoulder.

By this time Loki had regained his senses and had strode over to the assailant who had almost just killed his guard. Loki was fond of her and she was _his_ guard, he was not one to share nor did he like it when someone tried to steal or harm _his_ things. His guard had just managed to get to her feet as the last soldiers fell to the floor, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle obviously broken.

"Thanks," Emily breathed, adrenalin still coursing through her from the fight. "We'd better get you to your cell then." She half panted turning to the now empty doorway.  
"Wait! Your hurt," Loki shouted after her pacing through the hall to catch up.  
"It's nothing. I'm fine." She replied despite the amount of blood she could feel trickling down her back.  
Steady hands grabbed her shoulders and held her still. Emily sighed in defeat, she shrugged him off to peal back her jacket and reveal the wound.  
Loki could see the deep cut and what appeared to be black markings on her skin under the flowing blood.  
"I'm not the most knowledgable in healing but I can heal cuts such as these," he said placing his palm over her shoulder.

Emily felt a warm sensation, followed by an itchy tickling as she felt her skin knit itself back together. The pain at the beginning was sharp and she cried out, but it quickly faded to numbness.

"There all done." Loki said proudly, lifting his hand from her shoulder. Emily felt relieved by the lack of contact, until she heard a gasp and suddenly he was clinging onto her shoulder once more. Emily's eyes widened with fear, he'd seen her tattoo. There was no getting out of this now.

Loki stared in disbelief. On her back, though covered by blood, Loki could make out the ancient runes. This was impossible, no one on earth would, could know of this language. It was ancient Asgardian, and though there were many books written in this language, it had been somewhat replaced by the newer and simpler language of Vanaheim. It was still frequently used for official documents and all literate Asgardians could read it, but no mortal ever could.

Loki focused on deciphering what it said, he had to squint and tried to clean off as much red as he could before he let go and stepped back. He was utterly astonished and overcome with joy at the same time.

The words read : _Loki's little angel_

**Ahhhhhhhhhh! He knows! Loki knows! He found his little angel! I'm so excited you guys! They're gonna live happily ever after...or not *cough cough*  
I will not spoil your joy with but yeah, this story is far from finished.  
Hope you enjoyed this chappy, I sure did, tell me what you think or if you have any ideas of your own you would like to share?  
Reviewing makes the world go round, well not quite but it gets the fingers typing...  
See you all in the next chapter ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13:**

**ahhhh excited-ness new chapter AND this Sunday is ma birthday, I might just be able to get about a chapter as a present for you guys. **

**Warning: this chap will continue the fighting so, ya know a bit of violence involved there...**

Loki felt his throat constrict. It had to be her right? There was no other explanation, this woman was Emily. His Emily. She was here.

Emily scrunched her eyes closed and let out a breath she had been holding in. This was going to be hard. She turned around to face him and she saw Loki's look of confusion and happiness, it made her insides flip. She couldn't tell was he angry? Or happy?

There was another explosion coming from upstairs and Emily's communicator flared into action.  
"Agent, we need you now. We need all the help we can get."

Emily swallowed and looked up, he was staring down at her in disbelief.  
"Listen, Loki, they need me upstairs. I need you to go back or find somewhere safe." She rushed before hastily pulling his collar and placing a kiss on his cheek.

Emily turned and ran down the hall as fast ass she could. Her head was racing and her heart was aching. She didn't quite know how she felt, but one thing she did know was that Loki knew who she was and that someone was intent on stealing him from her again.

Loki stood almost dazed in the hall for around half a minute before a loud bang coming from the direction in which Emily ran brought him back to reality.  
Emily!

Loki ran, he ran as fast as he could towards the sounds of fighting. Though Emily had proved to be quite capable of defending herself in the gym he was not going to risk her getting hurt again.

It took him mere minutes to run from his floor to where the Avengers were holding back the oncoming assault, but to him they were the longest minutes of his life. Half of the building seemed to have been blow away, the walls that once stood facing the outdoors were now crumbled on the floor. There were two planes unloading what seemed an endless supply of men into the battlefield. SHIELD agents were dotted around the walls, firing aimlessly into the fight.

Thor seemed to be on top of a third plane, though it was not of much use anymore. The wings were batterer and with one more mighty swing of Mjolnir the engines were down and the aircraft was plummeting to the ground.

Ironman was working on the closer of the two planes, in his own little attempt to bring it down. His missiles were flying about as he circled the plane trying to find a week enough spot to bring it down. Captain America and the two assassins were relentlessly attacking the intruders, knocking them down with force.

Loki immediately went to help Emily with the crowd of soldiers surrounding her. Despite having seen her best the others Loki couldn't help but feel, since he discovered it was Emily, that she was inexperienced and needed help.

Emily was knocking out the man in front of her when she felt a presence close behind her, she whirled around lifting her leg to kick him across his face. Emily felt her leg in a tight grip and her eyes widened as she was pulled closer to the tall man's chest.

"I've just got you back and you expect me to leave you? Tut tut, my dear, it seems like you don't know me at all." Loki's smooth voice sounded in her ear.

Emily let out a breath. She was glad to have Loki watching her back, she quickly slid from his grip and went back to fighting off the approaching men. Suddenly a multitude of Loki's were dotted around the room, causing many o stop in their tracks, creating confusion between the orderly ranks.

The Avengers blinked once or twice but when they saw Loki cutting down their enemies they decided it was best to let him be for the time. He was after all a great warrior and was helping to cut the numbers and even out the fight.

Sure enough with all working together they managed to push forward the line of defence, the second plane empty of men though the last one still had half it's troops on board. With a ground shaking crack one of the planes split almost it two, falling to the ground to meet it's brother in the flames. The last plane, seeing its dwindling numbers and the force of the Avengers decided it was best to retreat, though they managed to let loose a few men before racing off to wherever it thought safety was.

The last men where easy enough to handle and were dispatched with ease. The Avengers were now stood panting, and in some cases bleeding, on what remained of that floor. The carnage was too much to asses now and there was too much damage to stay. SHIELD's own jets were picking up trapped men and women from the floors above as others were being rushed out from the lower levels.

It took a moment for Loki to catch his breath before he realised all eyes were on him. He gave a small smile and stood straighter than he had before.

"Not bad, Reindeer Games. Even without the horns." Tony was the first to break the silence.  
"Not too bad yourself, Stark." Loki smirked back.

Just then Agent Coulson walked through what was left of the door and onto the scene. "The Director needs to speak with you all in the conference room, and he said...what the hell is he doing here?" He stopped dead when he saw Loki standing freely in the middle of the destroyed floor.

Loki simply held his hands up in a show of innocence. Coulson had pulled his gun out and was aiming it at Loki's forehead. Emily didn't dare protest though she wanted to, they would know something was up between the two if she came to Loki's defence. But once again she didn't have to.

Every Avenger jumped to attention and looked as though they were all about to give the killer blow when Loki's hand flew out towards Coulson. He was standing a few meters away from the man himself, who at this point was trying very hard not to tremble.

Loki's outstretched hand curled into a fist and simultaneously they heard a cry coming from behind the terrified Agent. The Avengers stepped towards Coulson, thinking he was the one in pain, only to see the last of the enemy soldiers drop to the floor, knife still in hand, with his helmet crushed as if a giant had took it in his hand and pressed a little too hard. Spinning around they saw Loki approaching.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I'm here to help." He said in a calm and soothing voice. Coulson's heart was beating furiously in his chest and he was beginning to feel dizzy. His doctors had all said; too much excitement and his blood pressure would rise to much for his weakened heart to cope with. This didn't exactly count as excitement, but his chest was starting to ache.

Loki was still approaching, though he did so with his hands where everyone could see them. If he was going to be able to help the humans and be able to spend some time with Emily without the whole of SHIELD monitoring their every move, he needed them to trust him, if only a little. Loki had fought and helped them fend off the recent attack, but that could be perceived as personal gain. Loki needed to show them he was on their side, just for the time being.

"Your heart is straining, in about twenty seconds your going to go into cardiac arrest." Loki simply stated, standing in front of Coulson now. He lowered his arm slightly, pressing it to the man's chest where his sceptre had been. His movements were slow and non-hostile. Loki's fingers started to glow a faint green which transferred to Coulson's chest.

The Avengers watched in amazement as the panic faded from the man's eyes and his features softened into a calm daze. His breathing had slowed to normal pace and he looked healthier than he had in the past few years, the colour back in his pale cheeks. Once Loki's hand was removed from his chest the Agent snapped back to attention, looking at him with apprehension.

"What was that?" He asked, his voice calmer than before.  
"Consider it an apology, or a peace offering if you wish." Loki replied.  
"What the hell did you do to him?" The Captain stepped in defensively much to Coulson's glee.  
"I simply repaired all damage done. I know you won't believe me, but I do regret what happened,"  
"So trying to take over the world was an accident?" Tony scoffed.  
"Not exactly," Loki said sarcastically. "But I would like to *cough* make up for my previous actions."

Emily couldn't hold back the smile she was fighting off. Loki really was trying to help and silly as it was she was ecstatic that he had rushed to help her. So he hadn't forgotten her and now he knew who she was, would he be angry for having been lied to?

**Sorry to have stopped this so abruptly but I figured you guys needed the chapter as soon as possible.  
Soooo hope you liked it, and hope you guys weren't disappointed by the way he found out, I just figured it had to be subtle because I've read other stories were an agent develops feelings for Loki and apart from a few glares everything goes on as normal. I don't believe that would happen though, they all hate Loki and they need proof that he has changed and seducing an agent would not likely gain any favours from the rest of the team. I did mention a tattoo before this so it wasn't just out of the blue.  
So to sort of explain what I just said, Emily and Loki's relationship will start up again soon, but the other avengers aren't going to find out because if they did, Emily would be locked up in an asylum and never get to see him again.**

**Right, rambling over. See you next chapter ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14:**

**yayayayayay I'm 16 today! Whoooooo! So as promised a chapter for my lovelies, I hoyou you guys have a wonderful day, and enjoy the new chapter...**

Everyone's thoughts were soon interrupted by Director Fury entering the room, living up to his name.

"What the hell are you all still doing here? I thought I said we had an emergency meeting? Do you not understand the meaning of emergency? This isn't a damn tea party!"

"I do apologise Director, I believe I am the cause of the tardiness. Agent Coulson here was about to have a cardiac arrest, I thought it best to avoid the consequences of him almost dying on my account, twice." Loki smoothly interjected.

The director was eyeing Loki confused, as if he expected Loki to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"What was the meeting about, sir?" Asked Steve.  
"It was about him," Fury said looking at Loki. "I thought you were in your cell." He said almost as of in a daze. Loki shrugged and let out a sigh.  
"I shall return shortly, it is obvious my attempts at peace are unwanted."  
"No. No you can't return. The cell has been blown to pieces, there's nothing left of it. I thought you'd left with them." He said motioning to the what-was-once-a-wall.

"Director, I have come to earth to be forgiven. I need that pardon and I hardly think that leaving with the enemy is what is going to get me what I want." Loki looked hard at the director as if to make sure his point was understood. "Speaking of what I want, my terms have...changed slightly due to recent events."

Fury and Thor looked apprehensive, they dreaded what was to come next. Seeing what they just went through they needed to make sure that earth was safe enough to protect itself from an invasion before they could start worrying about enemies on earth. "What is it that you want now?"

"Obviously my first wish was too much. I will settle for one day," Loki held his hand up as it looked like nearly everyone in the room was about to protest, "but since you cannot trust me on my own, I will agree to go under the supervision of my guard." He said slightly nodding towards Emily who stood just outside of the circle.

Fury seemed to be considering his offer, "Thor, Loki a word in my office." He said before Turing and leaving the room.  
Once they had left he avengers all seemed a little shell shocked from recent events. Before long Dr. Banner was walking Coulson to the medical bay to check that all Loki had said was true and he hadn't in fact just poisoned him. Tony was off for a drink, he always seemed to have alcohol stashed where no one could find it even when Clint and Natasha went to look for it. The four of them that were left trudged down the corridor.

"Looks like your plan to become his friend worked after all." Nat whispered to Emily. "Be careful there."  
"I still don't trust him, I think he's up to something."  
"I agree with the Captain." Said Hawkeye.  
"Damn it you two, Steve I thought you'd be courteous enough to pretend to have not heard and Clint your called Hawkeye not Hawkear." Natasha scolded.  
"Sorry, ma'am. I just don't believe he could change sides so fast."  
"I did." Clint put in.  
"That's different, you were under mind control." Nat said, she hated it when Clint tried to blame himself for what had happened.  
"As far as I could tell, so was he. Or at least he didn't have complete control."  
"Your kidding, your actually standing up for this guy?" Steve half exclaimed.  
"He does seem different, maybe he has changed. It has been over thirty year for him on Asgard so it wasn't that quick." Emily piped up. She was cautious about taking Loki's defence, they might think she had been compromised and send her away so she tried to keep neutral on his subject.

"I want an Avenger present." Fury argued.  
"Director I have made my terms clear. You should consider yourself lucky I didn't stick to my previous ones." Loki said exasperated.  
"He will have that agent with him, is she not enough?" Thor asked and for once Loki was glad his brother was present.  
"I still don't trust him. No matter what hocus pocus he pulled on Coulson."  
"I will have a day of freedom, without SHIELD monitoring my whereabouts. I will take the guard and that is all I can offer."  
"I'm not going for it." Fury said determinately.

After a half an hours more arguing and bargaining they finally came to a decision.  
"You are being granted 15 hours in the presence of Agent Veritas where you will be cuffed but otherwise unmonitored. If our agent suspects any foul play she can and will notify us of your whereabouts and she will take you down." The last part sounded more of a threat than an overview of the final agreement.

"And she shall not be coerced into telling you what happened unless she deems it threading to earths safety." Loki added the part that the director had carelessly failed to mention. The director looked at him begrudgingly but nodded.  
"That is the agreement. Thor stands as testimony."

Loki was satisfied with the results he had gotten, though they were not what he would have wished for. He took care to look a little put off by what came to be the decision for of he looked too smug they would surely not let him go.

After he had left the office, Thor and Loki were greeted with several armed guards.  
"What is the meaning of this?" Thor asked a little annoyed, he wanted to talk to his brother in peace, he was hoping to get some answers from him that would confirm he had even right in fighting in favour of Loki's terms.

"This base has been compromised. We are to escort you to the jet which will take you to the new base." The closest soldier replied.  
Thor still looked a little unnerved.  
"Come now brother, surely even you can see this place is a wreak." Came Loki's voice of reason. Thor huffed and followed the guards down the halls to the awaiting jet.  
"Where is this new base?" Thor asked as he stepped on and the doors closed behind him.  
"Home, sweet home." Tony's voiced sounded over the intercom.

Loki rolled his eyes and watched as Steve's shoulders sagged. Emily was sitting near the front of the jet and was talking with Agent Romanoff and Agent Barton. Loki had been placed nearer the back and was being closely watched by Thor and the Captain. He wished he could get up and talk to Emily. No, he really wished that they were both back at her house, the Avengers blissfully unaware of their existence. But for now he had to settle with a sideways glance whenever the jet jiggled slightly.

**Huuuuum, not to sure about this. It was kind of a filler chapter. But hey it can't be action all the time now can it? Lets hope that in the next chapter our lovely couple will be able to straighten out the lines and get everything sorted. Well, we can hope.  
See you soon ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15:**

**Happy valentines day! hope you guys are having an awesome day, spending mine eating leftover birthday cake. Yay for the single ladies (and men, if I have any male readers) **

**On with the show...**

The ride in the jet was awkward enough, once it had landed on Tony's landing pad the avengers filed out quickly enough. They wanted to get away from Loki as fast as they could. Not because they thought he would hurt them, on the contrary they were confused by his passive and frankly alarmingly kind behaviour.

The penthouse was rebuilt but looked pretty much the same as it had before the hulk decided to redecorate with Loki as a wrecking ball. Tony stood at the centre of the room smirking as usual at his own grandeur, a glass of scotch in his hand.

"Welcome to my humble abode," he greeted.  
Clint scoffed, "Humble my ass."  
"Erm I don't want to be a downer or anything. But where is Loki gonna stay." Came Dr. Banner's nervous voice from somewhere at the back of the room.

Loki took a nervous look around the room, the edge of his lips turned up in a micro-smile as he looked at the window he threw Tony out of, the tiny smile turning into a frown as his eyes rested on the place he had been so unceremoniously pummelled into. Tony noticed where he was looking and laughed.

"No worries Reindeer Games, you'll be staying in a proper room this time, not a whole in the floor." The rest of the team couldn't help their little smiles as the remembered the god crawling out after his defeat.

"Thank you, Stark." He acknowledged coldly.  
"And your lovely bodyguard will be a few feet away, though you're going to be cuffed to the bed...Emily can be the one to judge if that's a god thing." Tony raised his eyebrows and looked at the two slyly. Loki just rolled his eyes, it was no use telling them he didn't need cuffs, they wouldn't trust him for a while; they would be stupid if the did.

"Jarvis, give them all maps to their rooms. I'm hungry."  
"Yes, sir. Might I inform you that Miss Potts is on her way."  
"Shit, I forgot to tell her."  
"Yes you did!" Came the furious response of the woman emerging from the elevator. "What the hell, Tony?! You could have given me a little warning!"

Loki smirked at the scene, Tony was completely out of his depth with this woman, it would be funny to watch him squirm. An idea popped into his head, it wouldn't be nearly as amusing as watching the argument play out but it might just be useful in future. Loki looked briefly through the raging woman's thought before he found something worthwhile.

"Listen Pepper I was going to tell you, I just...there was..."  
"What? Tony there was what?" Pepper said taking a step forwards and Stark took one back. He bumped into a table and his hand went back to stop himself from falling. As he brought his hand back around he felt papers just sort of appear.  
"What's this?" Pepper demanded snatching them off of him. Tony looked in fear and confusion at the papers, they weren't there before, so what were they?

Peppers eyes scanned over then quickly and her features softened then she broke into a huge smile. She laughed and shifted excitedly a squeal escaping her lips. Tony was utterly confused now and he had no idea what the hell was going on. The other Avengers stared on at the scene equally confused and Loki just smiled cheekily.

"Tony! Oh I can't believe it! Thank you, thank you so much!" Pepper hugged him and Starks eyes just bulged. The woman practically skipped back to the elevator. "I'm sorry for shouting, but I've got work to do. I'll leave you and your teammates alone to sort stuff out...Thank you!" She added quickly as the doors closed.

"What the hell just happened?" Tony was bewildered at the sudden change in attitude from his girlfriend. He had never known her to flit from one extreme to the other before. He turned to see a beaming Loki splayed across one of the couches.

"You're building a new tower in Chicago with Miss Potts name on the lease." He replied triumphantly.  
"What...how did you...why?" The genius finally managed to stammer out.  
"You looked like you needed help." Came Loki's even reply. "Odin knows it would have been more entertaining to watch her rip you to shreds, but this was the more beneficial response, for all parties involved." The man just stared dumbly at him and Loki sighed. "The legal documents have been taken care of, you have enough money to renovate or rebuild another tower, Miss Potts is no longer a raging ball of anger and you- well you will probably receive a suitable reward from the woman in question." He smirked.

"Thanks...I guess?"  
"I would like to retire now, spell casting can be quite exhausting." Loki stated as he walked over to the elevator.  
"I might as well go with him." Emily said coming out of her daze.

"Jarvis will take you to your floor. Your room is the one with the shit ton of security." The billionaire called as they left.

The two stood in the elevator, it was rather large and had a seizable mirror on one of the walls. It wasn't big enough though and Emily felt extremely nervous as they took the ride to their floor. It seemed every avenger had their own floor in the new tower, it was quite cute that Tony could be so considerate.  
Loki stood quietly his face betraying no emotion and Emily was dreading what he would finally say to her now they were alone.

"Are there any cameras in here, do you suppose?" He asked.  
"Um, I don't know, Jarvis?" She answered nervously.  
"No, Miss Emily. There are no camera is this elevator." The AI responded.

Emily was confused by the question, but it soon became clear as Loki pinned her to the wall, pressing his hips against hers and devouring her lips. Emily let out a surprised yelp before she relaxed against him. His lips moved from her lips trailing from her lips down her neck. Emily gasped as her lungs received the oxygen she desperately needed.

"So I'm guessing your not mad?" She asked. Loki groaned in response sucking at her collarbone. He grabbed her thighs and lifted them up, she wrapped them around his waist tightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, moaning as he pushed his hips forward.

The doors pinged open and Loki let go of her looking around. He snagged the handcuffs from her belt and put them on before stepping into the hallway. Emily was disappointed by the sudden loss of contact but understood why it was necessary.  
She stepped out after Loki then took the lead and lead him down the hall to the room with the large clamp where the door handle should be.

Emily placed her hand on the pad; it scanned her print and the door swung open. Loki stepped inside and Emily walked in behind him, she looked around the room. This one was much more homely than his cell. It had two single beds, though they were much larger than normal singles, and the room was modernly decorated. There was a desk with all sorts of gadgets that Stark had no doubt created himself, Emily thought she could find out what they did in the morning, now was the time to figure out what kind of security Stark had in this room.

**Tee hee they are sharing a room! Ohhhh what fun they shall have, and how much shit will they get into if they are found out.  
Anyway, I thought Pepper should get more than the 12% Tony had previously given her. Plus it gave Loki a chance to be the good guy and maybe the Avengers would warm to him a little.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16:**

**Whaaaaa? Another chapter? Why yes! Why the hell not!**

After sweeping the room Emily and Loki found a camera in the bedroom/living area and in the bathroom.

"Oh I'm gonna kill him." She fumed.  
"I'm assuming you are inferring to our host." Loki droned lying on the bed.  
"That creeper thinks he can put us in the same room and then he has the cheek to put cameras in the bathroom and the bedroom? What the hell? Where the hell am I supposed to change? What about when I shower, that creep thinks he can spy on me naked?"  
"I admit that that is not an ideal situation." Loki smirked.  
"You can wipe that stupid smile off your face, your supposed to be cuffed to the bed anyway." She stormed over to the bed where Loki lay still smirking.

"I have to admit that I do like cuffs in the bedroom, though I'm not usually the one wearing them."  
"Well you can start getting used to it while I tear that son-of-a-bitch limb form limb."  
"Are you sure I can't accompany you, I don't want to miss out on the entertainment."

Emily just glared at him then stormed out of the room to find the, no-doubt, amused billionaire. Loki sat on the bed and sank into his thoughts. Emily had had a positive reaction to him in the elevator and she was quick to pick up that they had to be careful around the other Avengers.

But something troubled him, he couldn't tell if she was really annoyed that they had to share are room. Or if she still cared for him, after all desire and caring about someone were not the same thing. Emily had changed since last time, he let himself fall into the worries he had previously been plagued with before he returned to earth. What if she didn't want him anymore? What would he do if she had someone else?

That was stupid, she had joined SHEILD hadn't she? What if she had joined to spite him? Or because she hated him? No, she couldn't hate him, she protected him when the soldiers came.

"It is my job," that's what she had said. Was it just a job? Loki felt like he was going to be sick. He needed to get up, he wanted to walk. Loki pulled but found that the cuffs wouldn't budge, his magic was useless against them. Loki couldn't get up.

His brow furrowed confused and he tugged again at the silly Midgardian contraption. There was only one person who could have done this.

"Thor!" Loki seethed frustrated.  
"Nope, just little old me" came Emily's voice, he hadn't even heard her come in.  
She walked to the cameras and ripped them out of the walls.  
"I see you were unsuccessful with Stark." Loki remarked still annoyed about the cuffs.  
"On the contrary, he took one look at me and complied to everything I asked. We're even having a banquet breakfast." She smiled cheekily at Loki, "I just don't think we should trust Tony that much."  
Loki smirked, "Wise move."

She came back from the bathroom with another camera which she choked in a pile with he others in the corner. She turned then, it looked like all her confidence and self assurance was gone, it was like the Emily he had seen when she had told him about her mother's death. Her shoulders were slumped and she trudged over to the bed, Loki scooted back and sat up against the headboard. She sat on the end of his bed looking down, not able to look him in the eye. Loki was filled with dread of what was to come next.

"So," she said, finally looking him in the eyes, "What happens now?"  
Loki gulped but didn't say a word so Emily continued.  
"I mean, there's no use trying to hide who I am anymore," she said with a slight shrug, she seemed smaller and more fragile than the woman he had come to know as his guard. It was funny how strong she could be when defending him, but when it came to actually talking to Loki, Emily was as fragile as a china doll.  
"And it's not like we can just go back to how things were before...not that I expected that, of corse not," she rambled petrified of what he was going to say, if he was going to say anything.  
"I mean its ridiculous to even think that you waited thirty years just to go back to that, or even that your still interested. I don't know if I could have ever waited that long..."

Emily's mumbling went unheard by Loki, he had seen the sadness in her eyes, she thought that he had forgotten her.  
"I still love you, if that's what your asking." He stated and he watched as she looked up at him, surprise written across her features. Then she lurched forward on the bed grabbing his shirt collar and pulling him in for a hungry kiss.

"You have no idea how much I needed to hear that," Emily managed to breath out when the kiss was broken. Loki slid his free hand up and combed it through her hair, his grip then tightened around the back of her neck and he was the one passionately kissing her now. His tongue brushed her lower lip and she welcomed it with her own.

Loki pushed his hips upwards and Emily felt the hardness starting to build in his crotch, she rolled her own hips and earned a grunt from the god beneath her.

"Get me out of these," came his words between kisses and he rattled the cuffs to show what he meant.  
"I don't know, Fury's orders you see...he didn't specify anything about these though," she teased unfastening his belt buckle and tugging the clothing down his legs.  
"Emily," Loki's voice came harsh, warning and she just giggled cupping the bulge that his boxers confined. "Emily," that came as more of a wide-eyed gasp.

She let him out of his cuffs eventually and the first thing Loki did was flip her underneath him. He kissed and licked at every inch of exposed skin, pulling of whatever clothes covered the rest. Emily felt ridiculously aroused but, in all fairness she hadn't been with a man since Loki had left her. Of corse she had had moments in the shower or in private which sated her lust but nothing could compare to a night with Loki.

It took the two a while to find their rhythm, having been apart for so long they were both needy and frantic in their love-making. When both were utterly spent they simply collapsed in a tangle of limbs. Emily's head was resting on Loki's chest, the rest of her body half lay on top of him. Loki was breathing calmly, his fingers trying light circles around her tattoo.

"When did you get this?" He asked, curious.  
"About two weeks after you left. If it bothers you I can-"  
"No...No I like it. You are mine, my little angel." He murmured into her hair. Emily smiled softly and kissed his chest before relaxing once more. Loki watched her, peacefully falling to sleep. All his worries and fears vanished and just for that moment Loki felt like home.

**Gawwwww, look at me getting all mushy for valentines day. So yeah I posted two chapters in one day, it's because I love you guys so much. Seriously though, I love all of you, the favouriters, the followers, the reviewers and the guests. You are wonderful people for sacrificing your precious time to read my story.  
Anyway, I'm going on holiday over the next week so you might not hear from me for a while, don't get too mad ;)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17:**

**Oh my god you guys! It's been so long since I've updated (I'm surprised you didn't complain). Anyway, Ibe been feeling a little overwhelmed witeWorld since I got back from my little holiday so updates might be slow but I'll try to get things out asap. **

Emily woke slowly, her head bobbing up and down much to her confusion. She heard heavy breathing and as her eyes fluttered open she realised she had her head resting on top of Loki's chest. Emily stretched her arms out and smiled lazily, Loki opened his eyes and looked down at her. Somehow he seemed to look as perfect as always when he woke, Emily on the other hand was sure she looked awful. Her hair would be a mess from the night's activities and her skin was covered in little bite marks.

"Well how am I supposed to hide this lot?" She asked eyebrow raised as she gestured at her skin.  
"I didn't quite think that far ahead," Loki murmured still half asleep.  
"Yeah well it's fine for you!" She exclaimed and Loki simply hummed in response. "Right, I'm going for a shower." Emily said giving up on trying to wake Loki.

The bathroom was quite nice, it had a seizable tub and a vey posh-looking shower, the walls were a light shade of blue and reminded Emily of a clear summer sky. She stepped into the shower not having any clothes to shed, they were all by the foot of Loki's bed. The water was warm and helped her relax for today was surely going to be difficult and she needed to start it on the right foot otherwise she was pretty sure she would break someone's bones by the end of it. She took her time in the shower, she was reluctant to get out and when she did she almost jumped back in. A current of cold air had shocked her and really woken her up, it was the middle of summer, why was it so cold?

Emily stepped out of the bathroom shivering in her towel as she did. Loki lay on the bed, completely bare and with the sheets kicked off. He looked like a one of those fat, lazy cats that did nothing but eat and sleep. Emily rolled her eyes and and went for the wardrobe that stood by the wall, she opened it and thanked Tony for having a change of clothes for her. She reached for a top and some black leggings, rolling her eyes at the underwear Stark had bought. She momentarily wondered how he knew what size to get her, then again he had access to all of SHIELD's info if he wanted.

"Jesus it's cold round here!" She breathed as she dropped her towel to put on proper clothes. Loki sat up at that.  
"Ah, that might just be me... I don't do too well with heat." He said sheepishly.  
"Right, well that's fine, I'll just have to stock up on jumpers." She smiled, Emily knew that Loki still wasn't comfortable with his heritage. She, personally thought it was one of the sexiest things on the planet, just above men cradling babies or small animals.

Loki seemed upset despite her reasoning that she would be fine, he quickly got dressed himself and the pair walked out to find some breakfast. There was not ravishing in the elevator this time as they rode up to the kitchen/dining floor where Jarvis informed them the Avengers were waiting. Emily stepped out of the elevator first and was greeted with the sight of Thor stuffing his face with whatever he could get his hands on. Steve and the two assassins were eating politely as you would expect them, Bruce was nibbling at a piece of toast as he concentrated on whatever he had written down in his notebook and Stark was sitting with a glass of scotch.

"Nice of you two to join us finally." Tony was the first to spot their arrival.  
"Someone is not a morning person, it seems." Emily ground out, she wasn't really annoyed with Loki's laziness, but if she didn't keep up an act of not being his 'girlfriend' or whatever she was, there were bound to he questions.  
"What happened to the mask?" Steve asked since none of them had really seen her without it before.  
"The whole point of it was to hide who I was, living with him 24/7 kind of meant that for it to work I'd never take it off." Emily said walking towards an empty seat, Loki followed her lead somewhat hesitantly. "I thought that it might not be very hygienic so I decided to dump it for now."

The Avengers simply shrugged and went back to eating, the buffet was impressive and it was hard for Emily not to want to just take a bit of everything. She decided to keep it simple and healthy with some fruit salad and a yoghurt. Loki didn't eat very much either, weather it was because he never really ate or because he was turning his nose up at Midgardian food she wasn't sure. Conversation seemed to flow pretty easily and Emily was enjoying herself despite her premonition of this encounter being awkward and unpleasant. Loki refrained from saying much and seemed more intent on looking at Bruce's book.

"Whatcha lookin' at kiddo?" Stark's voice broke through his concentration.  
"I am no child, Stark, and you would do well to remember that." He gritted. "I'm simply curious as to your Midgardian 'science'. Dr. Banner's equations are very complex and could do with some...improvement." He stated.  
Bruce looked up at his words and huffed a smile, "You've got to be kidding, right?"  
Loki just raised his eyebrows in a do-I-look-like-I'm-kidding way. The doctor just nodded. "Maybe you could come down to the labs and share with us poor mortals some of your massive intellect?" Tony scoffed in insult.  
Loki merely shrugged and smirked. "I'd be happy to."

Emily was a little confused by what was going on, she was not really one for equations and physics. She had much preferred history, literature and biology at school, a bit of a strange mix but she wasn't exactly what you could call an average person. As it happened Bruce and Tony were actually excited to have Loki in their labs, even though they were wary of him. That is how it happened that Emily had a free day while Loki got as close as you could call 'friendly' with the science boys.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18:**

**okkkkkk so this is amazing! I've never had such positive feedback and I love it! Thank you to all who reviewed! Just to let you know we'll be having a couple more fluffy, getting Loki integrated to the team chapters before we get back to any major plot points.**

**hope you enjoy ;)**

Loki sat in the labs for about ten minutes, not moving, not saying anything, simply watching. He was not very familiar with Midgardian technology even though Emily had tried her best to teach him he had simply not been interested at that time. Now, with stark and Banner around, he was much more intrigued as to how it worked. It wasn't often that Loki found someone with the same level of intellect as him, or the same wit to keep up the conversation. He would never admit it but Stark and Banner could probably be some of the most intelligent company he had had for some time, Odin knows Thor is as thick as two planks. Emily was also very intelligent and she had wit, their conversations were often fun and animating but not in the same was as the two men who stood before him.

"You just gonna sit there, Reindeer Games?" Tony called whilst in the middle of flipping around images and files on the holographic screen in front of him.  
"I'm trying to understand your technology. As you can probably guess from Thor, we do not have such things on Asgard."  
"How you doing with it? Working it out, I mean?" Bruce chimed in.  
"I think I've got the hang of it." Loki replied absentmindedly as he jumped down from his stool and headed over to a screen full of equations.

Loki studied them for a few seconds before his fingers started swiping along changing figures and altering the layout of them.  
"Hey hey hey! Don't mess up my stuff!" Tony said rushing to Loki's side as he worked. Bruce looked up and sauntered over to see what was going on.  
"I'm not messing it up, I'm fixing it." Loki replied still staring at the screen.

Tony and Bruce were staring in disbelief as Loki worked, half because of the quick and precise way he worked half because he was actually making sense in his alterations. Once he had finished he stepped back and scanned over the work, Bruce was astounded and Tony let out a low whistle.

"That is amazing." The doctor smiled.  
"Not bad, but there is one tiny problem." Tony said.  
"Oh? And what would that be?" Loki asked a little annoyed that Stark was accusing him of making a mistake.  
"Don't get me wrong, that is...pretty impressive. Your work is completely correct only... Your kinda working on the assumption this this is correct," Tony said pointing to a previous equation, "but that hasn't yet been proven." He trailed off as his eyes roamed over the screen. "So, yeah. Your a genius and all but your working on theory not fact." Tony said giving the god a clap over the shoulder. Loki grunted in response but was pleased at being called a genius.

The three men worked through the morning, sometime arguing over a point but it was never anything violent and they always managed to sort it out. By the time Jarvis called them for lunch they seemed to be rather enjoying themselves. They had managed to relax around each other and Tony had taken interest in explaining many of his inventions and innovation to Loki, with inputs from Banner when he thought the other was over exaggerating. They shared easy conversation and had a moment where they burst into uncontrollable laughter.

The three men were still conversing in the elevator as they rode to their lunch, upon exiting their conversation quieted as the rest of the team gave them odd looks. Tony of corse headed straight for the scotch, much to Steve's displeasure.

"Will you be joining us again in the afternoon?" Bruce asked Loki as they sat down and helped themselves to what food Thor had left.  
"I think so, I have a few...suggestions I would like to try out for the suit."  
"What kind of suggestions?" Clint asked warily.  
"Oh, you know just the usual self destruct and such," Loki quipped sarcastically.  
"Huh, yeah. Not to sure about you working on my suit." Came Tony's input.  
"Well you can judge for yourself if you think it worth it or not once I've made sure it works." Loki argued.  
"And what exactly is this 'it'." Thor asked.  
Loki smiled, patted his back and spoke to him as one would a child. "It's a little bit complicated, why don't you let the adults worry about it."  
"Loki I'm not as dull as you think, there is no need for disrespect." Thor huffed.  
"On the contrary Thor, you are duller than I originally thought."  
"Who wants ice cream?" Emily suddenly shouted, sensing an argument between the two brothers.

Emily had spent the day writing up reports of Loki's comings and goings, watching him in the labs through Jarvis's security system. She was glad of a little bit of calm after the drama of the past day or two. At lunch she had sensed the tension between Thor and Loki but she had managed to avoid and fist throwing with ice cream, ice cream always helps.

Once the ice cream had been eaten and cleared away, the tension having also dissipated, Loki went back down to the labs. He was sat in a far corner and was bent over a band of metal. The metal was quite thin and, with a bit of refinement Loki had made it into a bracelet. Nothing too fancy, just a simple band that would be discreet and comfortable to wear. Tony and Bruce had been sending him sideways glances throughout his working, they had heard him muttering something in a language they didn't understand, simply thinking it to be Asgardian.

Loki had in fact been lacing the bracelet with magic, he planned on giving it to Emily for her protection but that would look suspicious to the others so he was using the bracelet as a 'prototype' for an improvement on Ironman's suit. Once he had finished he couldn't help but feel excited to show it off.

"Stark, come here and put this on." He said hiding his giddiness.  
"What is that? A bracelet?" Bruce asked intrigued.  
"Oh, no. This is better." Loki smiled mischievously.  
"I don't like that look, what are you planning to do?" Tony asked brow furrowed.  
"This is a test, if it works and you like it I will be able to incorporate it into your suit." Loki replied.  
"Nah, I'm not to sure. Why don't you try it on?" Bruce intoned.  
"It won't work that way. I can hardly try it on myself. Besides, it's not like I would try and hurt him here in a tower full of Avengers. If any harm comes to you I give the Hulk permission to take it out on me." Loki said begrudgingly, he was really putting a lot of his faith in his magical abilities now.

Tony decided to put it on and stood in the centre of the lab where there was a little free space. Loki watched and carefully he began to resurrect a fire around Tony's feet, Bruce gasped and was about to jump to get a fire extinguisher before he beat Loki to a pulp but Tony raised his hand to stop him. The room was heating up and Bruce could see that the flames were real, he didn't see why tony wasn't panicking. The flames were surrounding him as if it was a cylindrical wall of flames.

"I can't feel it, I can't feel any heat!" Tony exclaimed.

The flames died down and were replaced a wall of ice, the temperature of the room suddenly dropped and Bruce began to shiver. Tony, however was laughing inside his ice prison. The walls disintegrated into nothingness and the billionaire was smiling like a little boy.

"That was amazing, how did you do that?" He asked incredulous.  
"The bracelet is laced with my magic, it protects you from extreme temperatures and keeps your body at a normal temperature."  
"And you can do this for his suit?" Bruce asked.  
Loki simply gave him a self assured smirk. "Of course."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**

**ok so, Loki's with the avengers, they are warming to him...what could possibly go wrong?**

Emily had had a relatively calm day, she had not had to keep a watchful eye over Loki and so she had spent her time writing up reports and arranging for some of her personal affects to be brought to the tower. She had managed to get quite a bit of work done, the director had called and informed her of the deal made with Loki for his freedom. She was just finishing packing away the last of her clothes when Jarvis called her for dinner.

Once again the conversation was a lot easier than expected, it seemed that Loki had bonded with the two scientists very well. Stark's chefs did not disappoint, they had honeyed apricot lamb and smoked salmon, there was couscous and fried potatoes, macaroni and cheese and a large vat of sumptuous soup. Stark had not spared any expense and served fine wine with the meal -though he decided to wash his meal down with a glass of Jack Daniels.

By the time dessert came around everyone had a slight alcohol buzz, minus the poor captain since he was incapable of becoming drunk. Once the plates cleared and the appetites sated, it was suggested that the party go to the cinema room for a film.

Loki wasn't exactly sure how it happened but he found himself in a dark room, staring at a large screen, wedged between Emily and Agent Romanoff. He had been handed a large container of popcorn and was munching away waiting for the film to start. He had not heard of the film before it was called 'Skyfall' and he was told it was about a British secrete agent named James Bond. He didn't think that the film would be very entertaining but Emily seemed excited and he vaguely remembered that she had old him of the Bond series before.

The film started and everyone's laughing and talking hushed down, the beginning confused Loki but he soon found that the story was enticing, despite him not understanding some of the references to Midgardian culture that he was not aware of. It was about halfway through the film when Emily slid her hand on his knee and gave it a light squeeze. Loki looked at her a little alarmed, was she not trying to hide their relationship?

She gave him a small smile and nodded to his left, Loki turned to see that the Russian agent had fallen asleep on her fellow agents shoulder. Barton had also fallen asleep, and Emily wasn't the only one who had noticed the sleeping couple. Stark was taking photos with his phone and Steve was quietly trying to scold him and take the phone away. Bruce simply smiled at the pair. It came as no surprise to Loki that Thor was oblivious to the scene, his eyes were still glued to the screen.

Loki rolled his eyes and looked back at the two sleeping agents, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of them. No one would be horrified or indignant if they were to announce their relationship (it didn't matter how much they pretended, Loki was the god of lies and he could see straight through theirs).

Once the film had finished, Loki had enjoyed it but was lithe to admit so, the teams were headed back to their own rooms to settle for a good nights sleep. Loki and Emily were the last to leave the cinema, graciously letting the others fill the elevator and volunteering to take the next one. Loki didn't want to have to wait for some petty mortals but he wasnt going to start complaining.

Once the two had settled back into their room, in separate beds tonight, they both sank into a deep sleep relatively easily. The room was silent save for their heavy breathing, the noise of the city blocked out by Stark's soundproof windows. All was calm and quiet in the Stark tower.

Screaming. Someone was screaming.  
They sounded close, a man's voice.  
Loki.

Emily shot up from her bed, blinking to get the sleep out of her eyes. Loki was thrashing about under his covers, his muscles tensed as he let out guttural screams. He sounded to be in the most intense agony, Emily had seen tortured men before but this was beyond anything she could ever imagine. She leapt out of bed and was by his side in an instant.

_Pain. Pure pain.  
Torture, his mind was no longer his own.  
His head felt like someone was using it as a pinball machine.  
Too much. It's all too much.  
Why won't they leave him be?  
Take whatever you want, just make the pain stop._

There was a calm. All the pain slowly faded and he was left in emptiness. But there was someone there, someone whispering soothing words of comfort. Loki felt he could relax a little. He slowed his breathing and concentrated on the voice, that familiar but distant voice. He felt arms wrap around him in an embrace, or where they trapping him to hurt him more? Loki struggled but the arms held tight. He tried to push them away but they were persistent.

Loki's eyes slowly opened as Emily held him tight, he had calmed down and was no longer thrashing around like a fish out of water. He was still resisting her a little bit but Emily wanted to make sure he felt safe so she kept her arms where they were. She smiled down at him but Loki's eyes were full of panic, a rabbit in the headlights. He pushed her away and curled in on himself, his eyes flicking around the room never resting in one place for long.

"Loki, Loki tell me what's wrong," Emily asked softly.  
Loki's only response was to shake his head. His throat felt tight and he didn't trust his voice. Emily could see from what little light there was, the trail of wetness down his cheek.  
She shifted from the side of the bed and sat with her legs crossed in the middle of his bed. She pulled Loki to her chest and held him there, rubbing his back encouragingly as he silently sobbed.

They stayed like this for a while, Loki had stopped crying long ago but his body was still trembling slightly in Emily's embrace.

"What happened?" She asked in a whisper.  
"It...the Chitari, I...they..." Loki couldn't believe his weakness. How could he have turned into this trembling mess? After a stupid little dream? This was ridiculous. Emily didn't say anything more, Loki was thankful for that at least. He could trust her to be discreet and it was alleviating to have her close. They sat there until Emily felt her legs start to go numb, she was about to ask him to shuffle over when she realised he had fallen asleep again. Lifting his head she gently set him down on his pillow moving to pull the covers over his sleeping form when she decided it might be best to not leave him in his bed alone. She snuggled in tightly next to him, Loki's arms wrapping around her torso unconsciously in his sleep. The rest of the night was spent peacefully wrapped up in the warm sheets.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20:**

Loki woke to find his bed was empty beside him, he heard the faint patter of water flowing and knew that Emily was taking a shower. It had been a week since the nightmares started, they did not come every night but when they did they felt so real. This was partly because all nightmares feel that way but mostly because they were real. Loki did not dream of the supernatural but he was reliving what had already happened to him. Why it was happening he did not know but it made his stomach feel sickly inside.

Over the corse of the week he had spent at Stark tower he had found that the mortals where not as horrifying to spend time with as he had originally thought. They were wary at first but by the end of the week they had come to accept him and encouraged him to participate with them. With Stark and Banner he found he could be entertained by their intellect and their conversations were stimulating-minus Tony's teasing and constant sexual innuendos. With the Widow he was still cautious but they had on occasion enjoyed a game of chess, she was expert material and they made quite a match. Thor was as ever the needy brother, he tried his best but Loki still found he grated on his patience. The Captain was polite, as always but he spent most of his time in the gym or being thought some of the new technology on earth he hadn't quiet got the hang of yet.

Loki lazily got out of bed, shimmering into Midgardian clothes and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Loki had found that his usual Asgardian attire was much too hot for his body in the warm summer months. He kept his room cold, Emily was no longer bothered by that as Loki had given her the bracelet, letting her body keep its natural temperature with ease. Normally Loki was supposed to wait for Emily before wondering out of his room but he needn't have worried about that, the avengers trusted him not to cause too much mayhem.

He wondered to the kitchens fixing himself some breakfast and snagging a bar of chocolate before taking the elevator to the living area where he usually lazed about until someone found a use for him or he entertained himself. Upon entering the living area he stopped to find a blushing Steve Rogers and an unhappy looking infant in his arms. Loki was taken aback, as far as he knew none of the Avengers had any children and why the Captain of all people should have a crying one in his arms was indeed unusual.  
Steve turned and upon seeing Loki his cheeks turned a darker shade of pink.

"Oh, you wouldn't happen to be any good with crying children would you?" He asked desperately.  
Loki smiled and walked over to him taking the child from his arms, the captain looked before a green smoke appeared before them, the image of a dragon emerging. The child stilled on his lap, looking intently at the creature before him, when the dragon began to twist and fly he let out a bubble of laughter and clapped his hands.

"Pray, who's child is this?" Loki asked curious.  
"Uhum, my new girlfriend, Paige, she had to go out of town for the day so I offered to take care of him for her. She said it would be a chance to...bond. I don't know the first thing about kids, you've got to help me." He replied. Loki smiled as the boy tried to grab the image but it twisted out of his way.  
"Well, I don't have anything better to do. How old is he?" The child was wriggling in his lap, giggling and trying to catch the mirage.  
"I think she said he was three. His name's Ethan by the way."  
They sat for a while, the boy had wriggled off of Loki's lap and was now chasing the dragon around. Loki watched and smiled, feeling a guilty tug at not having seen his own child for some time now.

"Why is there a dragon in my tower?" Came Tony's strained voice from the elevator.  
"Why is no one protecting that child!?" Thor burst when he saw the dragon curling around the boy. He strode forward pulling Mjolnir from his belt to strike the beast down. The dragon turned and snarled at his face in a daring manner.

"Relax, imbeciles. There is no danger here, save Thor's incompetence." Loki rolled his eyes as his brother stared suspiciously at the creature.  
"That is so cool!" Emily giggled staring at the dragon as well, only her face was a display of admiration and curiosity.  
"Can it breath fire?" Clint asked from behind the group now huddled around the child, the massive bulk of Thor blocking his view. Clint didn't get to see the flames but his question was answered when he heard a "Jesus Christ!" From Tony and he and Emily both jumped back slightly.

Ethan was quiet content with playing with the dragon but he was beginning to get hungry and the sudden crowd of people around him was a lot scarier than the dragon had ever been. The strange people were all so very big and Thor was by far the scariest, running from his spot centre stage Ethan hugged at the legs of his preferred adults, one arm around the calf of the captain, the other around the leg of the dragon man.

" 'm hungry." He wined throwing his head back and staring up at them.  
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about lunch." The captain admitted sheepishly.  
Loki rolled his eyes. "What do you like eating?" He asked picking the boy up and holding him on his hip.  
"Chocolate!" He exclaimed.  
"Uh-un, mister. Your mum said you had to eat healthy and I am not going to mess this up."  
"Com'on cap, let the little dude have some fun." Clint teased.  
"Wha-...I..."  
"Please?" The boy pulled a teary eyed look and pouted his lips, he reached over to Steve who took him in his arms. With one look at the boy in his arms he let out a huffed sigh, how could he say no to that face?  
"Fine, but not just chocolate. You have to eat something else too."  
"Pizza!" The boy squealed again.

It was a surprised staff in the nearest pizza restaurant to Stark towers who had the pleasure of receiving the Avengers plus Loki and child during their lunch hour shift. Tony had had some difficulty with the first waitress seeing as the poor girl fainted at the sight of the group walking in. The second time around though the waiter was much more professional, in that he didn't fall to the floor in a graceless heap. Loki and the captain sat with Ethan between them, the boy had taken to having them next to him. Loki had no complaints, he liked the feeling of caring for the little one; the captain was enjoying himself too, Loki's support made the job of taking care of Ethan so much easier, it was like he was a natural.

The avengers sat in their booth, eating and drinking. The laughed and fondled over the boy a little, Ethan was having the time of his life. They had had their plates cleared and were absolutely stuffed but Ethan seemed to be starving still, the way he was begging for desert. Steve was reluctant to let him have any but Loki simply waved his hand and a large bowl of chocolate brownie and vanilla ice-cream appeared before the smiling face. It was on the drive back to the tower, the avengers were in one of Tony's limousines, where the boy fell asleep on Loki's lap. His light blond curls brushing against his hand, Loki pulled it out from under his head and rested it at the small of his back.

Once they had arrived at the tower the avengers all filed out quietly so as not to wake the boy. Loki clambered out of the car taking care not to disturb the boys sleep. Once they had entered the building Steve took the bundle up to his room, Ethan would sleep on his bed until his mother came back to fetch him.

Loki felt a little disappointed when the child was no longer in his arms, he felt Emily's hand around his arm. Emily gave him a light squeeze, he looked down at her and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"You two made wonderful parents today." Tony teased, Loki tensed. "I think Steve has a crush on you." He chuckled as he strode towards his labs.  
"I thought we'd been found out for a second there." Emily sighed, Loki chuckled.  
"He was right though, you are a natural."  
He huffed in response as they made their way to the elevator "I've had a little practice."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21:**

**I'd just like to clear up a little confusion from last chapter, when Loki said he'd had experience with children he was talking about his daughter Hel. I explained in the story before this one (though you may have forgot or not read it) that she was the only child Loki really had. Narfi, Váli and Nari were his apprentices and he taught them how to create life, resulting in Fenrir, Sleipnir and Jormungand.**

**Back to plots and important shit soon I promise, just a tiny bit of fluff first...**

It was breakfast time in stark towers and Emily was bored. Royally bored. It had been almost a month since they had moved into the towers. No attacks, no freak energy pulses. Loki was beginning to feel the boredom seeping in as well. He had been called down to earth for a reason, for a job. Even though his main reason for accepting to help was an excuse to find Emily but he had found her early on and now it was just getting annoying spending his days around the tower tinkering with Tony's toys.

He had just about had enough of waiting around for something to happen when his prayers were answered. The voice that the others referred to as Jarvis informed the group of a pulse of energy released not far from Chicago, this one was larger than the rest. The food laid out before them was soon forgotten as the team suited up. Not one minute later the Director called, he was sending a Quinjet for them. It had been confirmed, a Chitari ship had been seen.

Loki had felt his stomach hiccup when he heard that, his hesitation was soon covered by anger when the director announced that he was to stay behind. Loki couldn't believe what he had heard. Was this not why they had called him? Was this not the reason he was on this pitiful rock?

The team left without delay leaving no time for Loki to argue his case for going with them. He sat and fumed quietly listening to Jarvis tell him what SHEILD knew. Once the short report had finished Emily sat down next to him.

"So, the Chitari...are you going to be ok?" She asked hesitantly.  
"I'll be fine, just so long as I don't get left here like a child! I want to help, why can't they see that?" Loki was shouting now, getting angrier by the second. "The Chitari are not here for this pitiful planet, they are looking for me! Thanos is coming for me and they are not helping by treating me like a china doll!" Loki was pacing the room, Emily thought he may wear a path through the floorboards they way he was going.

"I don't like to be left out either but it's not going to help if you get mad. They'll only think you're becoming hostile again and lock you up." Se tried to calm him, it seemed to work a little. "Come on, lets get our minds off of things."  
"And how do you propose we do that?" Loki asked, tone harsher than he wanted it to be.  
"I don't know, Jarvis what needs doing around here?" She asked the ceiling.  
"Everything has been taken care of Miss Emily, unless you are a dessert chef." The AI replied somewhat sarcastically.  
"We're out of desserts?" Loki asked deadpan. "How is this any help to us?" He raised his eyebrows at Emily in a bored fashion.  
"We bake!" She enthused, Loki groaned.

Twenty minutes later Emily and Loki were in the Stark Tower kitchens preparing ingredients to bake brownies. Well, Emily was getting the ingredients out, Loki sat on a stool at the island in the centre of the kitchen silently judging everything around him.

"This will not do." He piped up after a while. "If you ever wish to serve these 'brownies' for dessert," he said the word as if it was painful to utter "then you will need twice as much as you have here to sate Thor's appetite alone." He said studying what had been lain out in front of him.  
"Damn it, your right." She sighed, putting down the mixture that she was currently stirring.  
"Well how am I supposed to get enough brownies done before they get back and keep you out of trouble at the same time?"  
Loki smiled a devilish smirk.  
"You don't." He said simply.  
"How about you help..." Emily was cut off but the look Loki was Irving her. "Yeah, well it was a long shot anyway.  
"It's a shame really, that does look quite delicious..." Loki muttered leaning over the island and dipping his finger into the mix.  
"Oi! Just what do you think you're doing?" Emily demanded wide eyed at his behaviour.  
"I do what I want." Loki challenged dipping his fingers in the mix once more.

The Avengers were feeling jumpy. They had stopped the Chitari ships, there were only three of them, small ones at that. It was clear what they were. The Chitari had sent scouts out, that meant they were coming back for a rematch. Even though the aliens had been dealt with quickly and with barely any damage the Quinjet was loaded with tension. It was partly the leftover adrenalin from the unsatisfactory fight, partly because they each understood what was coming.

Last time the avengers had got out from the attack by the skin of their teeth, hell even their own men had fired a nuclear bomb at them because of how hopeless it had all seemed. This time, well this time Loki was on their side so that was one less problem to worry about. They'd have to ask him about the Chitari, see what they could find out before the big battle. But having an ex-super villain on your side wasn't much to party about either. Last time they had needed the Tesseract to create a portal to earth, this time they had power enough on their own. If they had that kind of power for a portal what else did they have the power to do? That in itself was something no avenger wanted to think about.

As the Quinjet landed on top of the tower Tony sighed. "Lets hope the others had a better time than we did," he grumbled.  
"I'm afraid that's not the case, sir." Came Jarvis' response. Every avenger was on immediate alert at his next words. "A fight seems to have broken out between Loki and the SHIELD agent bodyguard."  
"What happened? Where are they?"  
"They are currently in the kitchens sir. I'm afraid I can't tell you much more. Though by Miss Emily's screams Loki seems to have the upper hand." Came the AI's report.

The avengers were tearing through the building, each imagining the horrors of what Loki had done. The kitchens were full of knives, everyone had heard tell of how talented Loki was with knives. They had images flashing through their heads, the poor girl pinned to the wall as Loki used her for target practice, her blood smeared across the wall as Loki dragged he limp body across the floors.

At least they knew she was alive right? Jarvis had said she was screaming. That could be a blessing and a curse, they imagined it now, Loki standing over her nearly dead body, ripping screams from her as he plunged the carving knives into her soft flesh. They all ran as fast as possible reaching the kitchens with the worst in mind.

None of them knew how wrong they were.

Yes, there was a fight going on. No, none of it involved knives. No, there was not blood spattered over the walls and surfaces, rather flower, eggs and what appeared to be some sort of chocolate-y dessert mixture. Jarvis had been right though. Emily was screaming and Loki was clearly winning.

The avengers slowly made their way around the island to find the poor agent on the floor, Loki straddling her waist. One of his hands had both her wrists pinned to the floor, legs kicking out behind her. Loki was cackling madly as he watched her shake her head from side to side trying, and failing, to get away from the can of wiped cream he was holding spraying over her face.

Loki looked up and saw the Avengers staring at the scene with their jaws dropped. He grinned wickedly and looked back down at the poor girl. Both of the had been covered in flower, she had had an egg croaked over her head and it was currently making a sticky mess of her hair. Loki had had a handful of butter smeared across his face which had only made the coco powder throw at him stick to his face in brown lumps. The can in his hand had emptied the same moment that he had looked up to see earth's mightiest warriors gaping at him.

"Huh," he chuckled a little. "I seem to have run out of wiped cream...you wouldn't happen to have brought any back with you?" He smiled that evil yet oh so charming smile at his former enemies.

The assassins faces went stony cold and revealed nothing of their emotions, the captain managed only to open and close his mouth in the perfect expression of a goldfish, Thor put his head in one hand and tried to suppress his smile. Doctor Banner had no trouble with showing his amusement, chuckling softly, his anger dissipating. But Loki liked Starks reaction the best, the billionaire burst into a fit of laughter then reached for a cupboard, producing an previously unopened can of whipped cream, tossing it to him with a smile ignoring Emily's threats of castration.

**So I was writing this chapter and I had a sudden craving for brownies, needless to say I wrote the chapter with this in mind and made a huge tray full once I'd finished.  
I'd send you all a piece if I could but the postage would be a nightmare and I'm not sure what kind of state they'd be in once they arrived.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22:**

Once Emily had finally been freed from Loki's powerful hold and Steve had managed to restrain her from lunging at the still laughing billionaire, the AI informed the group of the Director's imminent arrival.

"We can go meet him, but you two are gonna have to clean yourselves up. Fury will be...well furious if he sees you like that," Clint smiled to himself at his little joke and Loki saw Agent Romanoff roll her eyes a little.  
Emily was still fuming and she hadn't quite got all of the cream off of her face yet. "I don't care, I'm gonna kill Tony as soon as I get free."  
Loki chuckled and strode over to where Steve was struggling to retain her. "You do put up on hell of a fight for a human."  
Captain Rogers raised his eyebrows at Loki, "Don't you think you've done enough damage for one day?" He said motioning around the room.  
"I found I had done rather well at restraining myself, the tower is still standing, is it not?" He teased.

Steven didn't get to answer as Loki lifted Emily from his grasp and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flower.  
"Come along dearie, time to get cleaned up!" You could hear the gloating joy in his voice as he strode out of the room. Emily was not taking to being carried in such a fashion very well. Her keg as were thrashing about, kicking into his stomach not even strong enough to bruise. Her arms were swinging punching his back as she screamed.  
"Put me down, you big brute! Let me go! I'll kill you! I'm gonna kill all of you! Ahhhhhh!" She let out her frustrated shouts but it did nothing to slow Loki down, nor did he release his hold on her. Instead he kept her like that, using one arm to constrict her legs and stop her from wriggling off and hurting herself if she fell to the floor.

Emily had finally stopped her thrashing once they were in the elevator taking them down to their floor. Loki smiled to himself, it hadn't been as boring as he had thought. Maybe the avengers should leave them behind more often.

"I hate you." Emily huffed out defeatedly.  
"And I you, Emily. And I you." He chuckled.

"It seems evident from the pattern and concentration of the energy peeks that the Chitari are planning to attack the city of Chicago. We don't have a ground base nearby and Stark towers is too far away. If another portal opens with an army this time, half the city may be destroyed before you get there." Fury stated.  
"What do you propose we do?" Bruce inquired.  
"The Helicarrier has had repairs done and thanks to Stark technology we have managed to improve its defences greatly." Stark sat smile to himself at that, the director ignored it and carried on. "We think it would be best if the Avengers returned on board to wait the attack there. We can stay fairly close to the city without being detected or getting in the way of the airports flight plans. It would be better than staying here and risking lives for comforts sake."

"Am I to come with you?" Loki asked from his spot against the wall.  
"We think it would be best, yes." Loki nodded, at least he might be kept in the loop. "Actually we had hoped that you would be willing to cooperate your knowledge of the Chitari. Anything you know could come in handy."  
Loki simply hummed in agreement.

The conference continued as Coulson droned on about protocol this and that. Tony had a few snide remarks to add in here and there. It all seemed to be going rather smoothly until Fury said something about keeping the death count to a minimum this time round to which Tony responded with a: "Yeah man, death's a bitch."

What happened after that became a bit of a blur. Emily who had been in the seat next to Tony had knocked his chair back as soon as the words had left his mouth. The man let out a groan as the back of his chair hit the floor and jarred his back and neck.

Meanwhile Loki had let loose a concentrated energy blast meant to knock the genius dead, it missed him by inches thanks to Emily's swift actions. Before Loki could strike again Thor, who had also sprung into action at Stark's words had managed to contain his brother in a strange sort of bear hug meant to restrain him from causing any more damage with his magic.

"What the hell just happened?" Fury asked, his one eye wide.  
The energy blast Loki had released had burst through the window/wall, shattering it into a million tiny pieces. Not many had actually been able to see nor understand what had just gone on. Thor, keeping a tight hold on his brother, excused himself and slipped into the next room. Emily was swift to leap over the table and follow the two brothers down the hall and through one of the doors to another room.

"Brother, please calm yourself. Anthony meant no harm in his words." Thor tried to calm his brother.  
"Unhand me so I may rip his throat out! That insolent brat!" Loki screeched.  
Thor did let his brother out of the tight grip he held him, instead holding him at arms length against a wall, stopping the enraged trickster from tearing the unsuspecting mortal limb from limb.

Emily stepped forward, silently asking Thor's permission. The thunderer nodded and Emily was more certain in her moves now. She went to Loki's side and combed her fingers through his hair, that always seemed to have a calming effect on him.  
"Loki, you have to understand that we have a much shorter life span that you, especially with so much sickness. Death is much more common on earth and people fear it a lot more. Tony is an idiot, I mean a real idiot, but since you haven't told anyone you can hardly expect them to treat death with respect. They have no idea that Hel is your daughter."

Emily's voice was calm and soothing, along with the stroking motion she had going through his hair she managed to calm Loki down considerably. He was no longer shaking with fury, though his breath was still quick and uneven. Thor was rathe taken aback with what he had seen, Loki was letting this mortal touch him in such a way Thor had never seen anyone do so. His brother was not the affectionate type, yet this woman was soothing his temper with ease. Not only that but it seemed that Loki had divulged information about his daughter to her, something Loki refused to talk to Thor about.

As confusing as it was, Thor knew that the avengers where soon going to want to know what had set Loki off like that. It was difficult enough to restrain him now, if the avengers followed him in hear it would be nigh-on impossible to stop Loki from murdering someone.  
Emily seemed to be handling him rather well though, as he looked from one to another he could have sworn he was feeling a little but of déjà-vu,he dismissed the thought quickly though.

"I shall return to the others, please brother, do not do anything you will come to regret." Thor said solemnly before turning and leaving the room.

Upon entering the conference room Thor noticed all eyes were trained on him.  
"Death is what you may call a 'touchy' subject with my brother. I would refrain from mentioning it in future, much less calling it a 'bitch'," he looked pointedly at Tony who grunted something under his breath. The others simply nodded and turned back to rot out living arrangements in the Helicarrier.

Thor couldn't help the nagging feeling at the back of his mind. He was sure he had seen that Agent before.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23:**

**wow, I had a mini panic attack after writing this, it disappeared for a while but I got it back, thankfully. Plus I'm really sorry for the late update, Im currently in berlin and I swear they are allergic to free wifi, so I have finally found a starbucks and am updating via iPhone.****Anyway, the song in this chapter is called Carry On My Wayward Son by Kansas, it's a great song so you know, listen to it if you want...or not, the choice is yours.**

The wind whistled past the huge humming ship, it was bitter cold but Loki liked the fresh sting across his face as the wind hit him. He stood outside much to Fury's dismay, Emily thought he was just doing it to spite the Director, Loki did seem to like getting on his nerves. But no, Loki was out here because he still felt cooped up inside, because he needed fresh air and a clear mind so that he may think without snarky comments from all the mortals around him.

In actual fact, Loki was rather worried. The Chitari had needed much of his guidance and knowledge to get to earth; they had needed the Tesseract. This time they had power enough to do it without the source of power. That could only mean one thing, Thanos was paying attention to Midgard now. Before it had been a simple pit-stop, as the mortals would say, which he would simply use to get to Asgard via the Bifrost and then to all other realms. Now Thanos was contemplating this planet for its true potential and he may not want to simply use it as a gateway anymore.

Now, a few years ago, Loki would not have raised his finger to help thoses he thought so far beneath him but that was no longer the case. Loki had found Emily, he had found love and (dare he say it?) friendship with some Avengers, however strained it may be. These friends did not simply tolerate him because he was a prince or because he was Thor's brother- at times though that prevented him from being pummelled into the ground- the Avengers accepted him for his intelligence, because they needed him and because they respected him, in a twisted fearful sort of way.

Loki had not felt the bubble of happiness of companionship in a long time and he would be damned to let Thanos take that away from him.

"Earth to Reindeer Games. Lunch is on, come eat something before Thunder Boy swallows the table whole."  
Loki smirked at Tony's nicknames for the two brothers, he didn't mind them as much as he should have. Tony seemed to have nicknames for most people so it made him feel accepted somewhat. Loki walked back towards the heavy doors that lead back to the inside of the Helicarrier.

He turned down various hallways and through multiple doors, navigating his way down to wear he was sure they would be eating. It had taken him all of two minutes to memorise the entire layout of the floating ship. Emily envied him a little, she had never been on it before and she wasn't quite as sure every time she ventured out from he usual path of bedroom, conference room and kitchens. She used Loki as a living GPS if she really wasn't sure, he could hardly complain since she had convinced them not to put him back into the circular glass cell he had been in last time.

The avengers and a few SHIELD agents were gathered in the dining hall, the food here was not a patch on what was provided by Stark Towers but it was decent enough. Loki took his share, ever one for small portions much to the surprise of all after they had seen how much Thor consumed. He turned with his plate and was immediately called to sit with the avengers, he liked that he didn't have to sit on his own, dreading the embarrassment of once more being rejected.

He sat down gave a small smile, returned by Bruce and Emily while Tony just continued with his story of how great he was. Once he had finally finished droning on he turned to Loki.

"Hey, man. By the way that tower you got Pepper, best fuckin idea you've ever had. She loves me, like ten times more now. We're renovating this old tower, it's nearly done now, and Pepper is like this excited little schoolgirl every time someone mentions it. She doesn't get mad at me anymore."  
"Glad I cold help Stark." He said rolling his eyes but he couldn't help but smile a little.  
"Oh, yeah. That reminds me, Paige called, she said that Ethan was begging to come back. She said he misses the 'dragon man'. Looks like you made quite an impression on him." Steve said nudging Loki's arm. Loki didn't want to stop the large grin that crossed his face.

After lunch Loki was called up to questioning, SHIELD wanted to know everything they could to prepare for the Chitari attack. Fury had put quite the emphasis on minimal damage and protecting civilians.

"And how exactly are we going to protect these civilians? The army will come no matter what, there is no way that we will be able to close the portal without considerable damage done to the city beforehand." He asked after three hours of being asked the same questions repeatedly until they seemed to be satisfied that he had nothing more to share.

"The citizens have been warned of a freak storm heading towards the city. They have advised evacuation and reasonable precautions in the upcoming weeks. We can't exactly announce alien invasion, madness and panic would ensue, it would be pure..." Fury trailed off looking for the right word.

"Chaos." Loki grinned.  
"Yeah, that." He replied gruffly.  
"If the invasion is to occur soon and we will all be caught up in preparation, I would like to 'cash in' my 15 hours freedom." Loki said studying the Director's reaction.  
"Fine. Tomorrow, at 08:00 hours you will be dropped off just outside the city limits. Try anything funny and you will be back under lock and key with that pretty little muzzle before you blink." he said in a bored tone but Loki could see the flicker of worry in his eyes that passed before most would be able to see. Loki felt a little self satisfied at that.

Emily had sated up much later than normal, Tony had challenged her with a little drinking game and she could hardly say no, now could she? Loki had dismissed himself saying he had a day to plan, Emily was both happy and nervous when they had announced that she would be left with Loki in Chicago for a day. She trusted him not to do anything too stupid but, then again Loki had been restricted to minimal mischief making over the past few weeks.

Emily took the chance then, when Tony offered a night of getting smashed and having fun she joined in whole heartedly. But, as always (unless you are Captain 'perfect' Rogers) after a while Emily was drunk enough and she had to put a stop to it, else she would have too much of a headache to do anything to stop Loki's mayhem tomorrow.

Tony, who was also pretty tipsy offered to walk her down to her floor, Bruce seeing the two stumbling about on unstable legs accompanied them to prevent any kind of accident in which either of hem would get hurt.

As the trio neared Emily's room their laughing and happy-go-lucky attitude stopped quiet abruptly. They could all hear the sound of screaming coming from behind the doors to Loki's room.

That sound, the one that Emily had been hearing quite often nowadays, was the sound of Loki's tortured dreams as he relived episodes of his past. The pain and terror of it was enough to sober Emily up. She did a strange kind of jog to the door, her legs were still not behaving entirely, and she burst into the room making a beeline for Loki's bed.

He was thrashing about, a layer of sweat on his forehead and chest. His muscles were tensed and gut wrenching screams were torn from his throat. Emily did as she had learned was best in this situation. She perched herself on the side of his bed, near to his head, placing a hand on his forehead and softly stroked his hair. It was the kind of thing a loving mother would do for her child when he was having a bad dream, but it calmed Loki down.

Emily began to sing softly to him, that always had an immediate effect. His screaming would stop and so would his thrashing. It would take a while, though, for his muscles to relax and for him to sleep peacefully once more.

_"Carry on my wayward son  
They'll be peace when you are done  
Lay your weary head to rest  
Don't you cry no more_

_Once I rose above the noise and confusion  
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion  
I was soaring ever higher  
But I flew to high  
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man  
Though my mind could think I still was a madman  
I hear the voices when I'm dreaming  
I can hear them say_

_Carry on my wayward son  
They'll be peace when you are done  
Lay your weary head to rest  
Don't you cry no more"_

Emily looked up from where she sat, Tony and Bruce stood in the doorway looking perplexed and horrified. She slowly rose from the bed, taking care not to disturb the sleeping god and pushed them out into the hall, closing the door softly behind her.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked, shivering slightly.  
Emily took a deep breath and sighed, SHILED had not been informed of Loki's night terrors and she really didn't want to get into trouble for this.  
"Listen, I'm sorry I didn't report it when it started but...it didn't feel right. You saw how pained he was in there, if SHIELD used that against him..." She shivered at the thought.  
"What happened?" Bruce asked.  
"When Loki fell from the Bifrost, the Chitari found him-"  
"And he gathered their army to attack earth, yeah." Tony interrupted.  
"Yes. But, time moves differently in the realms. What was one year on earth would be from five to seven years on Asgard. When Loki fell from the Bifrost the Chitari found him almost dead. They tortured him for fun and did whatever they could for amusement which meant, well making him scream like that." Emily explained. She saw the look of disgust on Banner's face and she saw the terror on Tony's. "And, as I said, one year on earth is a lot longer for them. It took years but Loki broke and convinced them that he could get the Tesseract for them. It wasnt one of his best decisions but he wasnt exactly in the best frame of mind either. A couple of days after we moved into Stark towers he started having these night mares, I guess it's kind of PTSD, where he... relives the tortures." Emily shuddered again.

"Jesus, why didn't he say something?" Tony half whispered.  
Emily scoffed. "You know Loki and how proud he is. He didn't say anything for the same reason you haven't told Pepper everything that happened while you were in Afghanistan."  
"How do you know that?" He asked defensively.  
"She was really drunk his once and I pushed her buttons." Emily dismissed his undignified look.  
"How come Loki told you?" Bruce asked, ever the voice of reason.  
"He could hardly hide it from me, we were sharing a room and he can scream pretty loud. It was either he told me and trusted me not to rat on him or he let me inform SHIELD. It was kind of a fifty-fifty chance." She replied.  
"Don't." Tony said, his eyes on the door behind Emily.  
"Don't what?" She asked a little confused.  
"Don't tell SHIELD. I know he's done some shit in the past, but he's on our side now. I know what it's like- to be haunted by that kind of thing- he doesn't need Fury holding that over his head. He doesn't deserve that, no matter what he's done."  
Emily smiled softly, "Thank you, Tony." He turned and stalked off quickly without Nother word.  
Bruce nodded and said "Careful, what Tony says is true but he still is dangerous. He seems to trust you a little more than the rest of us though, maybe that's a good thing." Then he too turned to take his leave. Emily slipped back into Loki's room, his sleeping form looked more peaceful now. She kissed him lightly on the head the retreated to her room for some well-needed rest.

**Yay yay yay yay! Next chapter Loki and Emily are let loose! Can't wait for that to happen. As always your reviews are much appreciated and I thank you all, my loyal readers for your love and support. You really are the best ;)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24:**

**Hello, I'm back again. I would just like to address some of the reviews I've had recently saying that maybe Loki had gone a little soft. I'm sorry if you feel that way and I'll try to toughen him up a little but, they way I have it in mind is he's friends with the avengers now and he is comfortable with them like he was with his friends on Asgard before he found out about, well everything. So as I said, I'll try and make him a little tougher but this isn't going to be a dark Loki fic and I don't feel like portraying him that way would fit in with the story.**

Loki woke with a weight on his chest, both physically and metaphorically. Emily's head was resting, using him as a pillow, bobbing up and down slightly with his breathing. Loki was a little nervous about today, his day of freedom. To be entirely honest-a rare thing for the god of lies- he didn't actually have a plan for this day. He had had a plan before, find Emily, but considering that she was the one to find him first he had just wanted the day of freedom to test how far he could push the director.

He had wanted to use those 15 hours now to just be with her, enjoying Midgard a little before they had to go into battle. Loki didn't want to think to much on that. He had a sinking feeling in his gut when he thought about the battle, he wasn't sure if the Avengers would trust him enough to fight alongside him. He was also very unsure of who would win, he had seen the power and stubbornness of the Avengers firsthand and he knew they would not go down without a fight but he also knew that the army of Chitari that had gotten through was not even half of their forces. The missile that Stark had thrown through the portal may have depleted that army but Thanos was no idiot, he would have built up his army's again, maybe given them more sophisticated weapons and armour. The other major factor being that they no longer needed the Tesseract to open portals for them.

This time around there was no reason to believe that they could close the portal once opened, nor that they would have a council of idiots to send a Nuclear missile to save them from the onslaught of Chitari ships. No, there was no reassurance of such kind.

He looked down at Emily's peaceful sleeping form as he mulled all of this over. A thought came to him, what would become of him and Emily after the battle fought? Assuming they won, Loki would be sent back to Asgard, he would receive a pardon but he doubted Odin would let him return to Midgard so soon afterwards. Most likely he would have to stay in Asgard for sometime before he would be trusted to leave the Realm Eternal and explore the other realms. The thought weighed heavily on his mind.

And if they lost?

Loki dared not think of what kind of new tortures would await him with the Chitari should that happen. Loki had seen and experienced enough of their tortures to wish never to see it again. Such horrors he would not even wish upon his most hated enemy.

Loki was pulled out of his dark thoughts and haunting memories by Emily's yawn. She stretched her arms and legs out before relaxing once more. Her eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head to rest her chin upon his chest. She smiled lazily at him and closed her eyes to drop a kiss by his collarbone.

"Good morning." She sighed.

Fury sat in his office. His chair slightly reclined as he stared out of the window. Yes, he had agreed to let Loki go but no, he had never expected the god to be so open towards them and actually keep up his side of the deal. The fact that he had to let the trickster loose on some poor unsuspecting city was quite unsettling, to say the least.

The director sat for a while, trying to think up some sort of argument that would keep him confined and in his reach. Short of the Chitari invading right this minute-something he did not wish to happen- there really was nothing he could do to stop it from happening. Loki was going to be set free.

The directors stomach twisted at the thought of what he would do. The Avengers all seemed to trust him and welcomed him into their lives like a long lost friend however SHILED's leader was not so convinced by his charming smile and devilish wit. It took a lot to make a person change so drastically, especially one who was so far gone. Not to say that the direct didn't believe people could turn over a new leaf, heck one of his top Agents had been gained that way. But the god did not seem to be the kind of person to simply jump from evil to good in one leap. And that was one massive leap for him to take in a single bound.

No the director was suspicious and despite his promises, he was going to have them followed. He would be going back on his promise, but what is a promise to the god of lies, after all?

It would take someone skilled at going undetected, someone who would be able to make sure the god didn't step out of line. Emily would be there to make sure that didn't happen in the first place but there is only so much a 'mortal', as Loki liked to say, could do in a situation wherein he decided to rebel. Really he was not keeping a tail on Loki so much as providing a bodyguard for the bodyguard.

That wasn't technically breaking the deal, was it?

Fury had decided, that was the best way forward. Getting out the files on some of his agents currently on hand he flicked through their profiles trying to find a suitable contender for this specific task. The agent would have to be one of the best as blending in with his surroundings and being inconspicuous. Loki was a cunning bastard and would have an eye out for anything suspicious. Taking a moment to think Fury mulled over weather it was at all possible for someone to follow the trickster without him being aware of the fact.

He dismissed that possibility, after all Agent Romanoff had managed to sneak up on him, why couldn't someone else? It took him a while but the director had finally settled on someone, a petite blonde who was very good at hiding in plane sight. He sent her a message detailing what she was required to do, a short while later receiving an encouraging message her. This was probably not going to work but hey, it's better to try and fail than do nothing at all.

Rubbing his face in his hands, Fury slumped in his comfy armchair. He had an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that just didn't seem to want to go away. The world was not ready for another war. He was not ready. All the work out into rebuilding New York, all the new technology and weaponry designed and created since then. What difference would it make if there were so many hostile forces out there ready and waiting to pick off one of the weaker ones. He couldn't help but feel like the little kid in the playground surrounded by bullies, waiting to get the crap beaten out of him just not knowing who would throw the first punch.

His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Agent Maria Hill, "Sir? Uh...Loki and Agent Veritas are ready to go."

He gave a short nod and followed her out to the bridge were he could see the two boarding one of his Quinjets, the unsettling feeling in his stomach becoming ten times worse.

**Aha, ok I lied. In the next chapter we'll get to see how Loki and Emily take to the city. Until then: Bye bye and thank you for reading :)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25:**

Emily was nervous as she border the Quinjet. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that Loki had planned for this trip thingy, whatever you could call it. She had absolutely no idea whatsoever and taking a glance at Loki, it looked like he wasn't too sure about it either.

They journeyed in silence upon the jet. Neither one of them making direct eye contact during the somewhat awkward silence that reigned over them. The pilot, a young blond agent Emily had seen around base but never talked to, was also silent much to Emily's relief. It was a short while before Emily felt the slight jolt of the jet's landing, she stood patiently waiting for the doors to open and silently dreading what this day would bring.

Loki followed behind Emily as they left the confines of the aircraft, they had landed on a rooftop of one of the outermost buildings of the city. The view they had from up high was mildly interesting, Loki thought, but it would have been better perhaps from the top of one of the taller skyscrapers, one of the ones closer to the heart of the city.

Loki could sense a little of Emily's nervousness, in reality he too was not totally sure of himself. He wasn't exactly sure what he had been hoping to achieve during his time in this city the others called 'Chicago'. It was rather unusual, actually, for him to not have something up his sleeve, Loki always planned ahead. Oh the irony of the God of Chaos always planning ahead and having everything meticulously organised. But for some reason, not this time. Perhaps it was because he never truly thought he would be allowed to have this free time, alone with Emily.

It felt good to know that they were somewhat released from the pressures and constant surveillance of SHIELD. Loki felt a smile grace his lips as he breathed in the fresh air, was able to stretch without people thinking he was about to blow something up. Of corse the avengers trusted him to some extent, but they still had their reservations at times, it was only natural. And if corse Loki had not exactly been unhappy on their company, it was simply a wonderful feeling to know that he was rid of it. At least, until 15 hours in the future where he would be dragged back to the Helicarrier once more.

He heard a small cough from his right, he turned his head slightly to see Emily standing just behind him.  
"So, where to?" She asked a little nervously.  
Loki tried his best to suppress the grin that was crawling onto his features, there was another SHIELD agent present after all. He nodded his head and the pair made their way to the stairs to get to ground level. Emily followed behind him obediently.

Stepping out Emily and Loki where immediately faced with a bright glare of morning sunlight, there was a slight breeze that tickled their skin but was not unpleasant. It felt somewhat refreshing to be amongst other people again, or ones who weren't trained to use paperclips as deadly weapons.

"I feel like getting a coffee p, don't you?" Loki asked nonchalantly. Emily's face scrunched up in bafflement for a second before she simply shrugged and smiled back.  
"Actually, a coffee sounds brilliant."

The pair walked side by side, heading further into the main areas of the city, Emily had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes and scoff when Loki pushed open the door to a Starbucks. Naturally he would refuse to get coffee anywhere else. She was however thankful that there was not a large queue. In fact they barely had the time to read through the different options before it was their turn to order.

The barista smiled and greeted them warmly in a way the was pleasant but obviously very well practiced after the many hours she must have spent working behind that counter. Loki smiled back and seemed to be in a rather good mood when he joined in the woman's prompts for conversation. He continued smiling as he ordered himself a hazelnut macchiato and didn't hesitate to order for Emily too. She simply blinked and looked at him as if he had grown another head.

"Hm, so I no longer have any choice in what I drink now?" She asked eyebrows raised resentfully.  
Loki flashed her one of his smiles, and wrapped an arm around her waste. He was acting strangely affectionate with her, not that Emily did not like his affection. She simply knew that this was not how Loki acts, he did not act this way before returning to Asgard and Emily could see no valid reason for him to start acting this way now.  
"But you love peppermint hot chocolate, honeybun." He replied in a sickly sweet voice.  
Once again Emily cast him a wary glance.  
"Are you sure you're feeling ok? Because you're kind of acting like a pedophile." She admonished quietly.  
"Oh come now, you couldn't play along? And I was hoping to give Fury a little show." Loki said in a mockingly pouty fashion.

Emily felt a little angry at his accusation, only to be take aback when he plucked a phone out of a woman's hands. She had been sitting right behind where they stood waiting for their drinks to finish, Emily faintly remembers her having sat there after returning from the bathroom. Now her anger seemed to grow, what the hell did Loki think he was doing? For some reason he seemed angry too as he brought the phone to his ear, though Emily wouldn't have guessed why until he spoke.

"Now, now Director." His voice was calm but there was a raging storm hidden behind it, not too far off. "I thought we had an agreement, but if you won't play by the rules..." The phone cracked and small pieces scattered onto the floor as he crushed it in his hand. At the moment their drinks arrived and Emily discreetly took them, trying to keep Loki's anger away from any who may disrupt them.

"Tell you dear Fury, we will return once our time is up. There is no need to worry his pretty little head." The venom in his tone was apparent. The woman simply nodded and kept her expression blank in the way that all agents are taught to. Loki took hold of Emily's arm and just before she was zapped away with him to wherever he thought SHIELD would not be able to follow, Emily recognised the pilot that had taken them here. She felt a little uneasy that she hadn't realised herself.

In a blink Emily found herself on the Willis tower Skydeck, on the ledge. Taking a deep breath Emily tried to calm her nerves, Loki soft chuckle could be heard behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, in a more genuine fashion this time. There was no one here save for them. He reached out and took his coffee from her and Emily noticed that he had bare arms. He didn't have bare arms when they came out this morning. Turning her head slightly she noticed he had changed his colt her to a Ralph Loren polo-shirt that fit him extremely well, in Emily opinion and some casual jeans. In fact she too had changed clothes and she was currently wearing a pretty white summer dress going down to her knees with a floral pattern creeping up from the hem.

"In case your lovely agency decided to use any form of tracking devices." Loki explained. "It is quite a sight up here, no? I thought it might be nice. Especially considering that its supposed to be closed today. We have this view all to ourselves." He said nuzzling his nose in her hair.  
"Yes, it's...quite something." Emily managed to breath out, taking a sip of her drink.  
"Don't tell me your afraid of heights?" Loki asked, Emily could hear the mischievous grin in his voice.  
"No, it's just a little bit overwhelming and slightly frightening when you are teleported to somewhere you don't know, incredibly high up and it looks like there is no floor and you are about to fall to your death." Emily gritted out.

Loki simply laughed and moved to sit with his back against the corner wall so that he could stare out over the city. Emily was quick to join him. His face had sobered from its merriment of a few moments ago and it looked as though he had something vey important to say.

"I'm sorry I left you. That I went back to Asgard and completely abandoned you with no contact whatsoever for _so many years_. I didn't want to, I didn't expect you to wait for me either, though I never stopped hoping that you did." He took a breath to catch his thoughts and Emily wanted to protest, to tell him she knew it wasn't his fault, he was trying to protect her. She knew it would change his feelings about it though and he had more to say so he quietly sipped her drink while she waited for him to speak again.  
"I love you Emily, you are my little Angel," he smiled at her pet name. "When this is over; when the Chitari have come and gone, when SHIELD finally lets me go, when I am free again, I will marry you." Emily's widen and her chest constricts. "I will marry you and I won't ever leave for another realm, unless you are to come with me."

Emily swears she can see the glimmer in his eyes of un fallen tears and she lets out a breath she had been holding in. Taking control of her raging emotions she finally manages to utter two words. Two words that make Loki smile the biggest smile in years, makes him happy beyond reason. Two simple words:

"Why wait?"

**Ahhhhhhhhahaha. And on that note I leave you my lovelies...**

**(It's not like the end of the story or anything, just the end of the chapter, don't panic)  
But anyways, yep I'm just off to google the laws on marriage in Chicago, cos you know being British and living in Paris isn't really the kind of place where you know these kind of things off the top of your head.  
Hope you liked the chapter and I will see you soon for the next (hopefully)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26:**

**Okay, first off I'm reeeeeeealy sorry about the wait for this chapter. I've been super busy and I can't seem to find my muse anymore. I'm still not happy with this chapter but I figured you've waited long enough.**

This was not the kind of situation that Emily would ever have thought herself to be in: standing in line waiting to get a marriage licence with a Norse God. Well it's not really the kind of situation that anyone would expect themselves to be in, was it? Yet it was happening. This was really happening, Emily had to try and restrain herself least she start jumping for joy and squealing insanely.

She did however refuse to let go of Loki's arm and held it tightly in a grip that would have crippled another man. Loki simply smiled broadly at her enthusiasm, he had been content to let Emily take care of everything, still a bit taken aback that she had wanted to marry him straight away. He had decided just briefly before he had entered the Starbucks to propose to her. It was a sort of spur of the moment thing that seemed to work out pretty well considering.

Emily had known how to sort everything out, once they had the forms they filled them in, Emily and Loki had had a little difficulty in deciding what his personal information was seeing as his birth certificate was in the records of Asgard under lock and key and he did not possess a valid passport. Emily had her driver's licence with her so Loki sat and examined it for a few minutes before conjuring his own with a set of details that were credible. Now that the forms were filled, the identification presented and the fee of $60 dollars handed over, their credentials we verified (Loki had to use another spell to make the computer believe he was all they had claimed him to be).

"There you go, sweethearts. Your certificate. It's valid for sixty days. You two have fun now!" Said the woman as she handed them their certificate. Emily looked at it with a twinkle in her eyes and Loki felt his jaws ache from having smiled so much.

The ceremony was performed in a chapel close by, Loki hadn't liked the idea of getting married in so small a place but Emily shushed him because this was not Asgard and not everything had to be grand and painted gold. He gave her a dead stare but laughed when she stuck out her tongue in retaliation. The priest performing the ceremony seemed to be very intimidated by Loki who had been the one to 'convince' him to marry them at such short notice whilst Emily ran out to get "stuff" as she had put it.

As it turned out the Midgardians had a tradition at weddings to get 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue'. It was a strange tradition and Loki didn't see the point in it but Emily was insistent. Unfortunately for her, the time it had taken for them to get their certificate and find a decent chapel, they had only three hours left until SHIELD would send out the search party. In stead of finding something to fit each criteria she simply swiped a blue necklace from a jewellers claiming that it fit new, borrowed (because she would give it back sometime, maybe), and as an added bonus it was blue as well. She hadn't been able to to procure something old, thank goodness she had an ancient god on hand. Loki had given her his signet wring, a small-ish golden ring with snakes intertwined. It was delicate and rather exquisite for a signet ring and Loki explained that it was of dwarfish make, which seemed like it should be a good enough explanation.

The time seemed to fly by for the both of them, by the end of the evening their jaws were aching from too much smiling, the irony of joy causing pain. Emily lay in bed, curled up and relatively exhausted after a good roll around with Loki. Her head rested on his shoulder, his arm wrapped around her and his nose buried in her hair as she traced idle patterns on the expanse of his skin uncovered by the silk sheets.

"Tell me again how it was you convinced the receptionist to give us this room completely free?" She smiled up at him teasingly.  
"I told you, I charmed her with my silver tongue. No need for magic when you are as handsome and talented as me." He satiated a little pretentiously before huffing out an annoyed sigh. "We shall have to return soon. Else the Director come after us with pitchforks."  
Emily snorted. "I'm not sure that a pitchfork would be his preferred weapon against you."  
"True, yet we cannot delay the inevitable. What will you say, if Fury questions you?"  
"I thought your deal meant that he wouldn't question me?"  
"He had no qualms in having us followed, I doubt he will keep to his word."  
"Humpf, I don't know. I hadn't really thought about it. I could just tell him we spent the day on the Skydeck..."  
"I doubt he will believe that" Loki murmured. There was a faint glow next to the bed and dozens of shopping bags appeared next to them of various sizes and brands. "You may tell him we went shopping."  
"He'll check surveillance video feeds." She reminded him.  
"We'll I cloaked us with a spell, of corse." Loki replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
"Of corse." She agreed with a smile.

Emily couldn't help but feel it was too early but they did eventually return to where the Quinjet would be waiting for them. Emily was carrying the bags of clothing that Loki had conjured for her, he was holding his. Emily had had a quick rifle through the clothes and found that Loki did have quite a decent taste in style for a Norse God.

As Loki had expected Emily was questioned about their 'shopping trip' once the SHIELD agents had finished switch her she found herself in the company of the avengers once more. They too wanted to know what Loki had thought worthy of passing his time. Emily told them the same story she had told SHIELD, she was just about finished when Tony gave a snort and said there was no way Loki would go shopping, when the trickster appeared beside him and offered to give him some advice on styles because his was getting to be rather old now. Tony was seriously pissed about that stab at his style, his suits (non-ironman ones) were all Italian, custom made and were damn well expensive, they were the best money could buy.

Loki laughed at his red face, it really is too easy to get under his skin, he thought to himself as the fuming billionaire stormed out. After a stern looking at from Natasha and a scolding from Steve, Loki agreed to 'apologise' to Stark after having damaged his ego. Somehow they all seemed to know that that 'apology' was not going to make anything better but was more likely to annoy the playboy that much more. As the evening turned to night the avengers dispersed and returned to their rooms. Emily was one of the last to leave, Thor being the only one left the room by then.

"Goodnight, Thor." She smiled softly as she left. She couldn't help but have the unnerving feeling of eyes glued to her back as she walked out to her room. Thor had been giving her odd sideways glances a lot recently. Perhaps he was recognising her? She pondered a little worriedly.

**sorry about the lateness again. I'll try to do better next time. *hides a hole* please don't hate me**


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27:**

"THAT LITTLE ASSHOLE! Goddamnit, I swear if I get my hands on him..." Clint's shouting could be heard from five doors down. That had been the third time this morning.

"HOLY SHIT! What the FUCK was that?" Tony's screaming was new, it didn't sound like the same frustration in Clint's voice, more a sort of terrified yelp rather than a annoyed threat.

Emily dragged herself away from her Starkpad, her hand reaching up to where the ring hung around her neck on a chain. They had decided it would be best to keep the marriage hidden, at least for now, and so Emily was wearing the ring beneath her clothes yet she couldn't help but reach for it every now and again, just in reassurance that it was still there.

It seemed that, after having got married to Emily, Loki decided he would be safe to start pulling pranks on people again. Emily walked into the room she had heard Tony's outburst coming from. She entered the room just in time to see the so called Genius-Billionaire-Playboy-Philanthropist let out a girlish yelp and jump back from SHIELD's computer and hop onto the counter top behind him.

The yelp and screaming combined had made Clint come running and, unfortunately for him there was a sheet of cellophane that had stuck itself across the doorway at the hight if his face.

"THAT LITTLE SHIT!" He screamed after running into it, count that as the fourth time this morning.

After managing to get into the room sans cellophane Emily and Clint turned their attention to the cowering man on the counter top.  
"What's gotten into you Stark?"  
"How- why- what...THAT!" He stuttered pointing at the computer. The two agents turned around to see a normal screen, nothing wrong with it, open in a document file. Emily took the keyboard and started typing, it was fine.  
"Seriously, Stark? There's nothing wrong." She huffed a little put out at having got up for nothing.  
"Nuh-uh, the mouse!" He pointed, and to the assassins' surprise there was a little white mouse cowering behind a bunch of wires. It made a distressed squeak and shot of running to find shelter or a safe place to hide.

"How the fuck did that get there? We don't have mice on the Helicarrier. It has never touched land and no one keeps pets on here, not allowed."  
"It the mouse!" Tony interrupted.  
"Yes, Tony we know. There is a mouse, I didn't know you'd be so squeamish over a mouse." Clint teased.  
"No not a mouse the mouse, the computer mouse. One minute it was a hard piece of technology, the next it was a living, biting thing!" He explained, both Emily and Clint went wide-eyed, slack jawed for a moment as Tony got down from the counter.

"Could you, go...get it?" He asked a little sheepish. It was understandable, really, tony knew and understood technology, he had never been one for little fluffy creatures, especially when those little fluffy creatures were supposed to be inanimate objects.

As it turned out Clint and Tony were not the only ones to suffer from Loki's pranks. Thor had been very grumpy when he showed up with a bright blue beard at lunch, Fury's other eye had threatened to pop out when one of the Agents had he guts to tell him his eyepatch was pink with hearts on it and Steve had never blushed as much as he did when the book he was reading suddenly turned into gay porn.

It was then that the Director had decided enough was enough, he set out to find the Trickster and had a good mind to just shoot the bastard and be done with it but one, Thor would not be happy and neither would Asgard and two, the guy was a god so a bullet wouldn't do much damage anyway.

"You!" He ground out upon finding the trickster lounging in a chair reading peacefully as if nothing was wrong.  
"Yes Director? And I must say you look ravishing today." He replied with a smile, his voice smug. "Oh and I see you have brought along your band of merry men too, how wonderful."  
"Cut the crap and reverse what you did or I am putting you back in that glass cage."  
"Ah, but my dear Director, you see magic cannot be stopped by glass walls. And besides, I have done no real damage, only a little...mischief."  
"Selective mischief. Why have you pranked Tasha, or Emily, or Bruce?" Clint asked doing a strange manoeuvre as he came through the doorway.  
"I have not pranked the Doctor because I value my life and I have not pranked agent Romanoff or Agent Veritas because I value my manhood, both of which I would loose should I be so foolish as to even think about it."  
"It's a fair point." Natasha replied with a raised eyebrow in warning.  
"Yeah, whatever. Just no more of that shit ok, your goddamn mouse trick nearly gave me a heart attack." Tony grumbled.  
"Such a shame, would it succeed if I turned it into a fish instead?"  
"Don't you dare!" He squawked storming out in a very unmanly fashion.  
Loki smiled and waved his hand in and intricate manoeuvre, letting off a faint golden glow. Thor's beard returned to it normal colour, Fury's eyepatch was black once more and somewhere Tony would find an electronic mouse in a little box.

Loki stood moving around the glaring women, their stares combined would make even Odin Allfather tremble. He walked past Rodgers in his way out of the room, pausing and conjuring up a book out of thin air and pressing it into the still blushing mans hands.

"Just in case you wanted to know what happened next." He purred lowly in the man's ear before promptly leaving the room. The Captain looked down at what was in his hands and made the impossible feat of blushing even more possible. The poor man was staring down at the front cover where two men lay in compromising positions with barely concealed nudity. He let out a surprised yelp and threw the thing away from him as if it burned. It was hard for Emily and Black Widow to not burst out into fits of giggles at that reaction.

**Tee-hee, I felt we needed a few laughs before I KILLED OFF EVERY CHARACTER YOU LOVE. Just kidding, but yeah, I think this story is coming to an end sooner rather than later but fear not, for I am not quite ready to let them all go and a sequel will come.**

**Anyways, that's all from me, hope you enjoy and see you next chapter!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28:**

"The pulses over the city are rising."

The table goes silent as Fury relays the news.

"What does that mean, exactly?" The Captain asked.  
"Before the other portals opened they would send out an energy pulse. Those were the little ones; this time there are much larger waves, and they're spreading further than the smaller ones. If my guess is correct, the Chitari are planning to open one big ass portal over Chicago. It's gonna be New York all over again." Stark replied, his usual snark gone.

The knowledge weighed heavily over everyone. They had known that sooner or later this would happen but it didn't make it any easier on them. Bruce sat at the table taking deep breaths and sipping on his mug of herbal tea. The smell was wafting around the room and helped him to relax.

"Rudolph, you got any ideas of what they're planning?" Tony asked somewhat futilely. Loki had already gone over everything he knew at least five times, SHIELD was thorough that way.

"The cannot open the portal without immense power, they don't have their own Tesseract so I can only assume Thanos will be joining in the fight this time." His shoulders were slumped where he sat as he stared out of the window into the cloudy sky. Both Fury and Natasha's eyes were glued to him as if they expected him to up and kill them all now.

"And that's bad?" Tony asked tentatively.  
"Very," was the curt response.  
"How is the evacuation plan going?" Clint asked drawing the attention away from the trickster somewhat.  
"We have warned them and civilians have been instructed to leave town or stock up on supplies and barrage their doors and windows. As far as they are concerned there is a tornado coming and going outside is highly dangerous for the net few days."  
"Do we know when they are arriving?"  
"Not exactly, but it won't be long."

Natasha had been studying Loki's expressions and as soon as Thanos had been mentioned earlier he had gone decidedly quieter and had not made eye contact with anyone in the room. She would almost say he was scared of this person/ creature/ whatever it was.

"How much of a threat dose this Thanos pose to us?" She asked carefully, watching Loki's face still.  
"He is extremely powerful, a sorcerer and a warrior. He is the commander of the Chitari, The Other is his second in command. They both have the power of mind control and if they get the chance they can inflict the most excruciating pain upon you without a single touch." Loki's stomach twisted as he explained, he felt sick at the memories that threatened to take over.

"That sounds as if it was spoken of experience." Nat pushed. Judging by the way Loki's head lowered slightly and his hard swallow she had been right. So his own allies had tortured him, interesting.

"Is there a way we can defeat them?" Steve asked.  
"The Other will be only slightly harder to kill than the rest of the Chitari, it is Thanos that will be the hardest to be rid of."  
"But there is a way?" Fury inquired, he could see Loki was holding back slightly, that made him wary of the former super-villain.  
"The sceptre, the one I had before. It has the same powers as the Tesseract and is most likely the only weapon we have that may kill him."  
"Are you seriously asking up to had you the sceptre just as your old allies start to attack again?" Fury asked half-incredulously, half- hysterically.  
"I did not say I had to be the one to wield the sceptre," Loki shot back.

After a short discussion it was agreed that the sceptre would remain on the Helicarrier until Thanos was identified and only then would Natasha or the Captain (depending on who was less injured/ unoccupied) be given it to kill the Mad Titan.

"There is another thing," Loki said in an almost whisper, all eyes turned on him and waited for Loki to talk. He took a deep breath and stared emptily at the centre of the table. "It is possible that the Other or Thanos will place me under their control once again, you will be able to tell by the change in eye colour, or that they may try to take me through the portal back to their world. If either of these things occur I would ask you to kill me." He said almost as if he was discussing the weather with an old relative.

Emily's eyes widened and her heart quickened. The thought of losing him made her feel queasy. The rest of the Avengers looked shocked at his request, only Agent Barton seemed unfazed by it.  
"Brother, I could not kill you." Thor said looking sorrowful and appalled that Loki would ever say such a thing.  
"So you would rather leave me in the hands of a madman? Someone who would have no qualms in submitting anyone to the most horrifying types of torture?"  
"I'll kill you." Clint piped up, for once it was not said in threat but in reassurance. Loki gave him a solemn nod of appreciation. Barton knew firsthand what it was like for your mind to no longer be your own and despite his own experience being inflicted by Loki himself he would let that happen to him.  
"Thank you."  
"Hey, you can count on me to blow your brains out." Tony said with more joy than should be allowed for the subject of discussion. It had the wanted affect of alleviating the crushing weight of the conversation somewhat.  
"It'll give me a chance to try out some of the new gadgets on my suit."  
"We'll thank goodness for that Stark." Loki said with a twitch of his lips and a roll of his eyes.

Emily thought about the nightmares Loki had and she knew that he was dreaming of the tortures he had endured in Thanos company, it wasn't hard for her to understand why he would not want to have to suffer through that again, he already had to suffer through it most nights. It still brought her pain to know that she may lose him, or the other way around, he may lose her. After all there was no assurance that any one of them would come out alive by the end of this battle.

As the saying goes: _all is fair in love and war_.

**Ok guys, I'm gonna be straight with you, I've got exams over the next few weeks so updates are going to be slow or nonexistent. I would like to apologise for that but after they're done I'll have more time for the story and its gonna get good...I hope.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29:**

**Ok, I know it's not much but I feel you guys deserve something and I need a reprieve from studying.**

Emily sat on the table, legs folded and a book laying across her lap. The chair had become stiff and uncomfortable and she was soon too fidgety to sit still so she had taken up residence as the centre piece to SHIELD's little conference room. Loki sat at one end of the table, legs resting upon it as he lazed back in his chair and stared intently at the crossword puzzle as if it would reveal its answers if only he stared hard enough.

The Avengers had been on edge these past few days, jumping between getting rest to be in the best possible health and constantly training to keep on their feet and be prepared. It was slowly killing them. The tension and frustration were getting hard to bare.

It was almost like they wished it would come so that they could be over and done with it. At the same time they wanted to push it back so that they could have every possible advantage on their side.

SHIELD operatives had been placed strategically around the city and they lay in wait next to their big guns and barrels of ammunition.

Everybody was just waiting.

Waiting.

Waiting.

Alarms blared and everyone clamoured into action, this was it. The Chitari had arrived.

Director Fury's calm, collected voice could be heard in all earpieces and over all coms: "People, we are at war."

* * *

**And so it begins. **

**Next one or two chapters will be the fight and then this one is done. I've still got exam week coming up and I'm a little built in over my head but I really want the next chapters to be good so you may not here from me for a while. Hope you can forgive me ;)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30:**

**Oh my god, guys. I'm so sorry for not updating. Everything's been kinda hectic in RL right now and I've just not had all that much time to write. But I managed to get this chapter down, though I haven't had time to read through it and check mistakes so sorry bout that.**

At the announcement everyone suddenly jumped and the adrenalin began pumping. This was it, today they were going to end this.

The Chitauri portal hung over the city, it's darkness making the city seem more gloomy and abandoned that it already had. Fury was right, if the government had announced that this was going to happen there would have been an all out panic. It made Emily's stomach drop like she'd just swallowed a ton of bricks.

Last time this had happened she had been on the other side of the country, blissfully unaware in the middle of her classes. She had never met Loki, never been on the run from government agents, never feared she could be killed at any turn, never killed anyone herself.

How times change.

Yet she couldn't help but think if she had the chance to go back, she would do this all again. The reason she wanted to become a doctor was because she wanted to help, wanted to save people. Right now she was about to go and fight to save the whole planet from enslavement from an alien race of ugly-ass lizards. Not much can beat that on a scale of helping others.

Not only that but she had had the opportunity to learn so much more. Granted a lot of that knowledge was based on how to kill someone quickly, quietly and efficiently, but she also had knowledge of other realms, she knew a little about what Loki had told her of magic. A history professor should kill to hear a few of the conversations she had with Loki and Thor about their pasts and earths'.

Another reason she would change nothing was the same god that was speeding down SHIELD's corridors with her. He was tall, smart, handsome, he had a penchant for magic and mischief and she loved him. Not to mention the fact that she was living with the Avengers and they considered her part of the team (even if to SHIELD she was not quite on that payroll yet).

It didn't matter much to her anyway. The pay wasn't the reason she was here, and besides she may not even be working for SHIELD all that much longer, after all she and Loki were married now, something that made her stomach flip and her mouth twitch up into a smile every time she thought about it. I mean she was married to a god. Her future was in his hands currently, if he decided to stay on earth then she would stay too, hopefully with SHIELD, she did like her job a little by this time and it would be a shame to see so much training go to waste.

However if Loki was to go back to Asgard she would follow. After those five years without him (and her assassins training) she was perfectly capable and willing to change and adapt to best survive.

The newlyweds arrived at their destination, Emily had made a quick stop to grab a rather large case, Loki assumed was full of guns and other such weaponry. They ran into the back of the Quinjet just as the engines whirred into life.

Thor and Tony had gone ahead and used their own methods of transport to get to the portal as fast as they could and try to decrease the inflow of hovercraft that the Chitauri were arriving on.

The portal did give them the advantage of being on the high ground however it have the Avengers the advantage of it being a bottleneck invasion. The portal could quite easily be graded to prevent further spread of invaders. Given that they had had a lot more time to prepare and they had an idea of what they were up against the Midgardians had not been docile.

The army had a few outposts dotted around the city, their big guns were to fire at the oncoming invaders, the Avengers would fight around the portal to slow inflow and deal with the bigger Leviathans.

The jet sped them towards their destination, they would land on the roof of the newly acquired Potts Tower, it was rather a shame for Tony how his property always seemed to be in the middle of the fight. Well this time the portal was not coming from earth but from the other side. That meant they would have to completely destroy this army or it would destroy them.

This eventuality was obviously not an option, they would fight until the very last man if they had to but they would never give up. Unfortunately for them, when Loki had been at the head of Thanos's army he had not been trusted with its entirety. If he had they would have all been destroyed by the nuke. No, Loki had been entrusted with about a third of the Chitauri's forces.

The rest of them had been elsewhere, and now they were all here, the sheer size and number would have been enough to discourage many, but the humans were goddamn stubborn and refused to give up arms without a fight.

The hovercraft were flying through the portal like swarms of giant deadly bees. The combined forces of Thor and Tony were not enough to stop the inflow but they managed to cut the numbers down slightly. It was a little discouraging to see how much effect it was really having.

The jet was just about to touch down, Emily stole herself a moment to breath before she turned to the large case she had brought. She flipped the locks open and threw back the lid, there sat her favourite weapons. Yes, she knew they could be rather inconspicuous in undercover situations, that's why she was trained with near every type of gun available and she still had her knife throwing training from Loki.

In the case sat her black mask, it would be best if she could keep her identity covered in case she did continue on with SHIELD, plus it looked really good with the rest of her outfit. It was a little silly to think about appearances now but hey, if your going to get killed by an alien reptile might as well do it in a snazzy outfit.

She pulled it on, securing it in place as she reached for the twin swords that also lay in the case. They were beautifully crafted, long and thin but very strong and deadly sharp. She had cleaved many a head off with these beauties, yet one would have thought them to be brand new for all their clean shine and perfection. Ok, maybe that was going a bit far but Emily really did love these things.

She spun on her heels to be greeted with Loki's approving nod, Clint's low whistle and she even thought she could see the Captain discreetly checking her out. Well, that was a nice boost of confidence, it would help her out when she went to face the newest enemy to kill.

"Ready?" The Captain asked as the doors began to open. That moment just as the light poured through and the door lowered seemed to last an eternity. The team all gave curt nods and waited with baited breath for the doors to open enough for them to get out.

Emily risked a quick glance at Loki, he seemed calm and collected but she knew of the storm that raged beneath his cover. His nightmares had not stopped, she might even say they had gotten worse recently. It was hard for her, to try and comfort him and be there while remaining professional as SHIELD would have been monitoring his every move and not know exactly what it was that terrorised him. She knew it had to do with the void, with what happened when the Chitauri first found him but other than that she was kept in the dark.

He glanced her way and gave a small smirk accompanied by a wink before running out to face the ones who had caused him so much pain. Emily smiled and ran after him. Swords by her side she ran to her first target. Jumping and twisting around she raised her sword and sliced through the back of the creatures neck before he even realised she was there. Landing softly she spun around to decapitate yet another.

The others warned around her, they worked together not quite as effectively or in sync as clockwork but they were still able quickly clear the roof and move on into help in other areas where they would be of more help.

The inundation continued, it seemed like there was a never ending flow of the creatures. It was difficult to keep going, the odds looked to never be in their favour yet they bravely pushed on. Not one of them fault earring in their attack as they tried to push back the onslaught of attacks.

Emily's swords were drenched in blood, the thick red liquid was on her clothes and tiny splatters made a trial up her neck. She had, for the most part, avoided being injured though she was positive she would find her skin to be covered in bruises after this.

The battle raged on for two more hours and the team was beginning to slow, their muscles were aching, they were tiring and it seemed to be an endless loop of fight, kill, fight, kill, fight, kill...

At least there were no civilians running around, screaming their lungs out. Emily would take a master assassin over a crowd of scared people any day.

The team shouted over their comms, trying to establish how many more Chitauri were coming through, yet no one could really know. Again, they were all very thankful for having been forewarned and for the army's presence. Without them there, there was no doubt the battle would have been useless. It still looked the same way now, actually. Come to think of it there was never really much chance of them winning. What a depressing thought.

Emily cheered herself up by slaughtering five Chitauri in just two swings. Still. Five down, hundreds more to go.

There was still no way, that they could see, of closing the portal. If only they could figure that out it would be simple to send a shit-ton of missiles through, destroying the rest of the army and closing the portal before the debris could all come crashing down upon them.

Emily took a deep breath and scanned her surroundings. There were no Chitauri left on this street but she could hear the rattle of machine guns not far off. That was where she would head for some more action.

As she made her way over to where the commotion was coming from she chanced a look up. Thor was a little way away from the rest of the groups, not wanting to strike them with a bolt of lightning. Ironman was zooming about, taking out the hovercrafts (not many of those were left, yet there were still hundreds of soldiers and those awful leviathans still out and about).

She couldn't see the other assassins but she could clearly here Clint's warnings as he watched the battle from up high, covering people where they needed help. Emily felt a flurry of worry stir in her belly as she realised she could neither hear nor see her husband anywhere. God it made her smile when she thought of that word.

Her worry was soon multiplied tenfold when she heard his voice in her ear.

"He's here. Thanos has arrived."

**So, I think this might be the second to last chapter in this story. I'll try to write more so that you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter. I'm so sorry about the tardiness of this one.  
Thanks for reading and don't forget to review ;)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31:**

Emily's breathing stops, her mind is far off, thinking about all of Loki's nightmares. Could he really face this man- Mad Titan thing? Would Tasha really be able to kill him and stop the portal in time to save the earth.

All her doubts seemed to crush her in that moment, immobilising her.

Clang!

Her sword flew up almost of its own accord, shielding her from the blow the Chitauri to her right was attempting to land. Woken from her stupor, Emily was set back into action and she continued to fight her way through the ugly lizard creatures.

If Loki's was going to face the creature from his nightmares he should not do it alone, Emily could see the building he was standing upon, it was next to the newly purchased Potts building. She ran through the throngs of Chitauri warriors who were both fighting and falling all around her. She cut a few down as she went along, she managed to help out her fellow assassin from being shot from behind but Emily wasn't really paying attention to see the thankful nod she got.

Her sights were set on one thing, get to Loki, help him fight. They would do this together, as husband and wife. Her face remained fierce and determined but she smiled in her mind every time she thought about those words; husband and wife.

They would be together now no matter what happened after this battle, if he returned to Asgard she would follow, if she stayed on earth then he would stay with her. It felt good to have something solid like that knowledge to hold onto. The life she had lived as a SHIELD agent was unstable, she was flown across the world at a moments notice of some mission or another. She never had a true home, just a locker at HQ and a bed in every safe house.

How would that work? Living with Loki and still being an agent. It wouldn't, she supposed, it would be a shame to let her organisation go but it wouldn't be to difficult to see the end of being ordered around by her so called superiors. She had joined shield just to see if it would somehow lead her back to Loki after all and it had done a marvellous job at that.

The building was rather tall, only slightly higher than its neighbours and it would take too long to take the stairs. The elevators presented a risk of being weaker or unstable, there may be Chitauri in the building, cutting the wires or in the shafts. It was a risk she would have to take however to be able to get to Loki in time. She was already wasting valuable time as it was, it was her duty to be on the ground fighting but Loki needed her more right now, even if he hadn't said as much she knew that to be true.

It was a short ride up but Emily was counting the seconds furiously wishing the damn thing would go faster. At last, she pushed through the still opening doors and sprinted to the door that lead to the roof.

Taking the steps two at a time Emily flew through the door to the roof. The wind sipped at her face once more as she blinked a few times to hold back tears that collected in her eyes. Getting her vision back under control Emily scanned her surroundings, she could see far out over the city up here, she could see the billows of smoke that rose from some of the buildings, she saw the ships that came soaring past, firing at anything that crossed their path, she may have even seen a chitari firing at some clouds. Did they not have clouds on the planet that they came from?

Shaking the thought from her mind, Emily focused on trying to find Loki and this Thanos person. She scanned the roof, circled around but they weren't here.

What?

She had seen him, not five minutes ago. He was here, he was right where she stood!

Oh god no, that was just one of his copies. The real Loki could be anywhere right now. How stupid could she be? Of corse Loki wouldn't just parade around on a rooftop in plain sight. That would make him far to easy a target. He was simply observing the battlefield from up high. Shit shit shit.

Emily ran to the edge of the building, looking down upon the streets, trying to find any signs of Loki. It was only because of a buzzing sound behind her that she realised one of the hovercraft was aiming at her. Diving out of the way of the shot Emily ran around and hoisted herself up on top of the thing. It was rather foolish of the Chitauri to get so close to her really. But she was thankful for its underestimation of her skills, it had provided her with transport after all. It took Emily a moment to figure out the gist of getting the damn machine to work but she figured it out.

Swerving around she felt rather seasick but the feeling passed as she spotted Loki's figure a few buildings away. He stood on a roof that was much lower than the others and further out from the centre of the battle. By now, SHIELD would have found a way together the spear to Natasha and she would be heading that way to try her best at killing this thing that commanded the Chitauri.

If they were lucky it would be much like their previous battle in that perhaps killing the army's general, the soldiers would collapse. It had been a massive stroke of luck that had defeated the army in the past and they were kind of counting on that same luck to help them out here.

_"The army is reading their missiles. They're going to launch them through the portal as soon as they are given the signal that Thanos is down."_

It had surprised Emily as she had completely forgotten her comm was still in place and working. The Directors calm voice was a bit of a comfort, if he wasn't panicking or worried then they might have the slightest chance to get through this alive.

Emily's hovercraft was heading over to where she had seen her husband, she could make him out clearly now. There was another figure on the rooftop with him. A large, ugly figure with purple-reddish skin. He stood tall and strong, his posture radiated confidence and it was obvious that he would be rather intimidating in any situation.

Emily had the faintest feeling of resignation as she saw the creature. Her vehicle was approaching fast and as it entered the last hundred meters of its course she realised where she had seen that face before. It was the creature from her nightmares. The ones before Loki had been taken back to Asgard again.

Emily can vividly remember the nights she had been tormented into sleeplessness because of her visions of this monster. Every time the scene would change slightly, yet every time the ending would always be the same. Loki would die in her arms while she helplessly watched.

Not this time, she thought. E,ily was determined now more than ever to win this battle. It had torn her apart when she had hose dreams, watching he light leave those beautiful green eyes. Emily was only glad they had stopped when Loki had left. Instead the roles had changed, he was the one who's sleep was interrupted this time around but both times the thing on that roof had been the reason for their unrest.

Emily could see it, the long thin weapon that was half-spear half-sword, with its glowing red gem at the tip. It was much like the sceptre that Loki had had only this one looked more dangerous. Perhaps it was the weapon that gave this illusion, it was most likely an effect created by the one wielding it but one thing Emily was certain of, was that it would not go anywhere near Loki while she still breathed.

Thanos was upon Loki now, swinging at him with all his might. Loki's sedir was protecting him as best it could but the Mad Titan was stronger. Oh god, this looked like one of her dreams. Loki was knocked backwards. Flying across the rooftop and landing hard on his back. The Titan was almost upon him once more, ready to deal the final blow.

Realising that she had no idea how to stop her ride, Emily pressed down, making the thing gain speed, timing it as precisely as she could, Emily made a jump for it, letting the hovercraft smash into the roof, distracting the creature as she landed on her feet and prepared herself.

The Titan was only momentarily distracted by the crash, he had not seen Emily landing only a few feet behind him. He turned back to his prey who had only just managed to get back onto his feet.

"You're mine, little Jötunn. And you will pay for your betrayal." He hissed.

Emily took her chance and ran, using the buildings Air-con mount as leverage to jump up behind him and cut off his head. Unfortunately for her, the Titan was much like Asgardians in that they have superhuman hearing and speed. Thanos turned at the last moment parrying her blow but he had not been prepared enough. Emily's sword nicked his face, trailing a cut across his forehead and down his left eye.

The Titan growled and threw Emily back. Loki was back into action and realising that Natasha would not be here before they managed to rid themselves of Thanos ordered the army weapons to fire. Even if they could not kill him Loki was determined to slow down his raid.

Turning back to the Titan he saw that the distraction Emily had provided was now gone, he was once more bearing down upon Loki, ready to kill. Loki got his defences ready and was about to throw a few spells Thanos's way. He knew they wouldn't kill but at the most they may hurt and impede the Titan. Loki's jaw went slack, nothing was happening, his magic wasn't working.

"What now, little prince? Your magic failing you?" Came the teasing voice of his enemy. "You didn't think me stupid enough to face you with your sedir, now did you?" The Titan tutted.

Loki was going to have to find some kind of improvisation because that blasted Black Widow was nowhere to be seen. His plans were failing and his magic was gone. Things really did look dire for the Trickster now.

He watched as Thanos raised his weapon, the blow would be to strong to stop and it would cut right through his armour. Well, at least he would get to see his daughter again soon, though he had not hoped for their next encounter to be under such circumstances.

Loki readied himself for the pain that was sure to come, his heart was beating furiously in his chest and his blood was pumping adrenalin through his body. Loki swallowed and prepared for his death.

The pain came. But this one was unexpected. His chest felt like it was ripping apart and he was sure his heart would never beat again. Emily's body slumped down as Thanos drew back his weapon. Her blood began to pool out onto the roof floor. Loki collapsed to his knees, his face a picture of horror.

Thanos was surprised to day the least. He had not seen the Midgardian coming and he was more than a little annoyed he had not met his target but upon seeing the Jötunn's face he was satisfied with the results. The prince looked broken, horror struck and grief stricken.

Once agin the Titan was distracted from his revenge because of a midgardian, this time though he took care to check his surroundings. The woman that had landed on the rooftop this time looked much fiercer than the first, she held the sceptre that he had gifted to Loki, that was dangerous, the traitor would have told them it was their only weapon that could kill the Titan.

It seemed the other Avengers so they had called themselves were starting to gather around this roof as well. Their missiles had once agin in attacked his ships and destroyed more of his fleets. It mattered not. Thanos still had many soldiers at his disposal.

Right now, however it was clear that this battle was almost over. It would be foolish to remain here. Especially while they had that infernal sceptre.

"Worry not, traitor. I will return for you once more. Next time I will have the Tesseract and there will be no one to stop me." He spat out viscously. Thanos still had the use of his magic and he made good use of it now. The portal had been feeding on his strength and he could use it no longer.

With a flourish he was gone and the portal was closed leaving the Chitauri who remained alive behind, cutting of their power and killing them as he left.

The Avengers could not help but be relieved when the last of the soldiers collapsed, only the Captain, Hawkeye and Ironman remained on the streets. Thor, Natasha, Bruce, Emily and Loki were all on the rooftop where Thanos had just been. Tony's swerved down and picked up the two remaining Avengers and flew them over to where the others were.

Tony was all set and ready to crack a joke and invite everyone out for a new foreign delicacy that no one new what it was when he saw the blood.

Emily's body was lying across Loki's lap as he cradled her limp form. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and his right hand was aglow with magic. Natasha and Bruce stayed back a respectful distance and they both remained quite. The Avengers stood in an awkward half circle around the two, nit knowing what to say or do.

They had seen the injury Coulson had sustained from Loki's previous visit but that could not compare to how Emily looked now. Her chest was torn open and from the wound it was obvious that the weapon used was cutting in a downward motion because the rip extended down to her stomach. Loki was desperately trying to keep her blood inside her body, keep her heart beating, keep her alive but it would be nigh on impossible. It was only because of his magic that her heart was still beating, if you could even call it that.

"Thor," Loki's voice trembled as he called out.  
"I'm here, brother." Thor stepped forward, placing a comforting hand on Loki's shoulder.  
"Smash it."  
"What?" The instruction was strange and unclear.  
"Take Mjolnir and smash the sceptre." Loki instructed, the bitter tone and anger in his voice reminded them of when Loki had lead the attacks in this realm.  
"Brother-" Thor began to protest.  
"DO IT!" Loki screamed.

Thor was shocked, Loki had never reacted like this before, he was always so cool and calm. Nevertheless, the older prince obeyed the instruction and took the sceptre from the assassin, he placed it carefully on the ground and hefted his hammer high, brining it down with a powerful swing.

The weapon shattered and the blue light exploded around the rooftop, engulfing the Avengers and blinding them. Loki had been prepared for it, the absorbed the energy being released and used it.

It was a strange pulling sensation, like the team was on a bungee cord that had been starched and was now pulling them back, the air flew by them so fast and the pressure they felt made each one want to just curly up in a ball. Then suddenly it stopped.

They opened their eyes and boy, they weren't in Kansas anymore, Toto. Instead they stood in a large golden hall, steps extending in front of them leading to an extravagant golden throne. Upon it sat Odin, his wife Frigga stood next to him, they had obviously been in the middle of a conversation when the unexpected party arrived. The two royals stood, stunned, as did the Avengers. A small, pleading voice broke the silence.

"Please, help."

**oh my god you guys, this was a monster. I'm so sorry fri not posting it sooner. I will be cooing another one, continuing this story in sequel cos really, I couldn't just stop it there. That would be evil. I don't however know when I'll be getting around to writing it cos mug muse kinda sucks right now. **

**On another note, I've changed my tumblr, the link is on my profile. I won't be continuing with the previous one so you can just go ahead and in follow that one. Sorry bout the change but someone from my school found the previous so there was no way I'm keeping that one. The content of the blog will be the same though, so no worries there. Anyways, I think I've talked enough now. Have fun and enjoy you're summer holidays ;) **


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